DECEMBER,  1907  WHISTLER  PRICE,  15  CENTS 


anxa 
88-B 
763 


WHISTLER 


PART  96  VOLUME  8 


jBate^anNiuiltKIompany, 


MASTERS  IN  ART 

A  SERIES  OF  ILLUSTRATED 
MONOGRAPHS:   ISSUED  MONTHLY 


PART  96 


DECEMBER 


VOLUME  8 


CONTENTS 


Plate  I.        At  the  Piano 

Plate  II.      The  Little  White  Girl 

Plate  III.     La  Princesse  du  Pays  de  la  Porcelaine 

Plate  IV.     Portrait  of  Pablo  Sarasate 

Plate  V.       Portrait  of  Rose  Corder 

Plate  VI.     Portrait  of  the  Artist's  Mother 

Plate  VII.    Portrait  of  Thomas  Carlyle 

Plate  VIII.  Portrait  of  Miss  Alexander 

Plate  IX.     The  Fire-wheel 

Plate  X.      Twilight,  Valparaiso 

Portrait  of  Whistler  by  Himself :  Property  of  G.  W.  Vanderbilt 
The  Life  of  Whistler 
The  Art  of  Whistler 

Criticisms  by  Wedmore,  and 
The  Works  of  Whistler :  Descriptions  of  the  Plates 
Whistler  Bibliography 

Photo-engravings  by  Suffolk  Engraving  and  Electrotyping  Co, : 
A  complete  index  for  previous  numbers  will  be  found  in  the  Reader's  Guide 


Way  and  Dennis 
and  a  List  of  Paintings 


Property  of  E.  Davis 
Property  of  A.  H.  Studd 
Property  of  C.  L.  Freer 
Carnegie  Institute,  Pittsburgh 
Property  of  R.  A.  Canfield 
Luxembourg,  Paris 
Museum,  Glasgow 
Property  of  W.  C.  Alexander 
Property  of  A.  H.  Studd 
Property  of  G.  Robertson 
Page  22 
Page  23 
Page  29 


Page  34 
Page  41 


Boston.    Press-work  by  the  Everett  Press:  Boston 
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PART   97,   THE   ISSUE  FOR 

^anuarp,  1908 

WILL     TREAT  OF 


NUMBERS  ISSUED  IN  PREVIOUS  VOLUMES  OF  'MASTERS  IN  ART 


Part  1. 
Part  2. 
Part  3. 
Part  4. 
Part  5. 
Part  6. 
Part  7. 
Part  8. 
Part  9. 
Part  10. 
Part  11. 
Part  12. 


VOL.  1. 

VAN  DYCK 

TITIAN 

VELASQUEZ 

HOLBEIN 

BOTTICELLI 

REMBRANDT 

REYNOLDS 

MILLET 

GIOV.  BELLINI 

MUR1LLO 

FRANS  HALS 

RAPHAEL 


VOL.  2. 

Part  13.  RUBENS 

Part  14.  DA  VINCI 

Part  15.  DURER 

Part  16.  MICHELANGELO  {Sculpture) 

Part  17.  MICHELANGELO  {Painting) 

Part  18.  COROT 

Part  19.  BURNE-JONES 

Part  20.  TER  BORCH 

Part  21.  DELLA  ROBBIA 

Part  22.  DEL  SARTO 

Part  23.  GAINSBOROUGH 

Part  24.  CORREGGIO 


VOL.  3. 


Part  25.  PHIDIAS 

Part  26.  PERUGINO 

Part  27.  HOLBEIN'S  DRAWINGS 

Part  28.  TINTORETTO 

Part  29.  PIETER  DE  HOOCH 

Part  30.  NATTIER 

Part  31.  PAUL  POTTER 

Part  32.  GIOTTO 

Part  33.  PRAXITELES 

Part  34.  HOGARTH 

Part  35.  TURNER 

Part  36.  LUINI 


VOL.  4o 

Part  37.  ROMNEY 

Part  38.  FRA  ANGELICO 

Part  39.  WATTEaU 

Part  40.  RAPHAEL'S  FRESCOS 

Part  41.  DONATELLO 

Part  42.  GERARD  DOU 

Part  43.  CARPACCIO 

Part  44.  ROSA  BONHEUR 

Part  45.  GUI  DO  RENI 

Part  46.  PUVIS  DE  CHAVANNES 

Part  47.  GIORGIONE 

Part  48.  ROSSETTI 


VOL.  5. 


VOL.  6. 


Part  49.  FRA  BARTOLOMMEO 

Part  50.  GREUZE 

Part  51.  DURER'S  ENGRAVINGS 

Part  52.  LOTTO 

Part  53.  LANDSEER 

Part  54.  VERMEER  OF  DELFT 

Part  55.  PINTORICCHIO 

Part  56.  THE  VAN  EYCKS 

Part  57.  MEISSONIER 

Part  58.  BARYE 

Part  59.  VERONESE 

Part  60.  COPLEY 


Part  61.  WATTS 

Part  62.  PALMA  VECCHIO 

Part  63.  MADAME  VIGEE  LE  BRUN 

Part  64.  MANTEGNA 

Part  65.  CHARDIN 

Part  66.  BENOZZO  GOZZOL1 

Part  67.  JAN  STEEN 

Part  68.  MEMLINC 

Part  69.  CLAUDE  LORRAIN 

Part  70.  VERROCCHIO 

Part  71.  RAEBURN 

Part  72.  FRA  FILIPPO  LIPPI 


VOL.  7. 


VOL.  8. 


Part  73. 
Part  74. 
Part  75. 
Part  76. 
Part  77. 
Part  78. 
Part  79. 
Part  80. 
Part  81. 
Part  82. 
Part  83. 
Part  84. 


JANUARY 
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APRIL 
MAY  . 
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DAVID 
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INGRES 
WILKIE 
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Part  85. 
Part  86. 
Part  87. 
Part  88. 
Part  89. 
Part  90. 
Part  91. 
Part  92. 
Part  93. 
Part  94. 
Part  95. 
Part  96. 


JANUARY 
FEBRUARY 
MARCH 
APRIL 
MAY 
JUNE 
JULY 
AUGUST 
SEPTEMBER 
OCTOBER 
NOVEMBER 
DECEMBER 


LAWRENCE 
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FILIPPINO  LIPPI 
LA  TOUR 
SIGNORELLI 
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TENIERS 
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DELACROIX 
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ALL  THE  ABOVE  NAMED   ISSUES  ARE  IN  STOCK 

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MASTERS  IN  ART    PLATE  II 
[  4(37  ] 


WHISTLER 

SYMPHONY  IX  WHITE.  NO.  2  '  THE  LITTLE  WHITE  GIRL  > 
PROPERTY"  OF  A.  H.  STUDD 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/whistlerOOunse 


MASTERS  1ST  ART    PLATE  III 
[469] 


WHISTLER 

ARRANGEMENT  IN  ROSE  AND  SILVER    •  LA  PRINCESSE  DU  PATS  DE  LA  PORCELAINE ' 
PROPERTY  OF  C.  L.  FREER 


MASTERS  IN  AHT    PLATE  IV  WHISTLER 

[471]  ARRANGEMENT  IN  BLACK    '  PORTRAIT  OF  PABLO  SARASATE  ' 

CARNEGIE  INSTITUTE,  PITTSBURGH 


MASTERS  IN  AET    PLATE  VII 
[  477] 


WHISTLEK 

AEEANGEMEKT  IX  GEAT  AND  BLACK    '  PORTRAIT  OF  THOMAS  CAELTLE' 
MUSEUM,  GLASGOW 


MASTERS  IN  ART    PLATE  VIII 
[479] 


WHISTLER 
PORTRAIT  OF   MISS  ALEXANDER 
PROPERTY  OF  W.  C.  ALEXANDER 


PORTRAIT    OF    WHISTLER    BT  HIMSELF 
OWNED  BY  GEORGE  W.  VANDERBIIT 

This  portrait  belongs  to  the  later  years  of  Whistler,  and  represents 
him,  so  M.  Leonce  Benedite  writes,  "as  the  greater  part  of  those  of 
his  friends  who  still  remain  remember  him  :  the  monocle  at  his  eye,  the 
hair  curled  upon  the  forehead,  whence  emerges  the  famous  white  lock, 
the  rosette  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  gleaming  discreetly  but  haughtily 
in  his  buttonhole,  the  countenance  open,  smiling,  and  cunning,  with  an 
expression  which  remains  malicious  and  combative.  In  the  warm 
penumbra  of  its  harmony,  'brown  and  gold,'  he  breathes  the  inner 
contentment  of  the  satisfied  artist.  One  feels  that  it  is  painted  in  a 
state  of  happiness,  following  the  return  of  approval,  so  unjustly  with- 
held from  him  in  England,  and  painted  in  the  years  after  his  marriage; 
we  can  call  it  the  portrait  of  the  true  Whistler." 

[  484] 


MASTERS    IN  ART 


3amcs  HMwtt  ittcJlcill  Wtystkt 

BORN  18  3  4:  DIED  1903 


AMERICA  is  proud  in  claiming  to  be  the  birthplace  of  one  of  the  great- 
k.  est  geniuses  of  our  time,  James  Abbott  McNeill  Whistler.  Very  little 
of  his  childhood  even  was  spent  here,  however,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-one 
he  left  his  native  country  to  study  art  in  Paris,  residing  there  and  in  London 
the  rest  of  his  life,  and  never  again  revisiting  his  native  land,  though  he  is 
said  to  have  expressed  the  wish  to  return.  As  George  Moore  writes:  "Mr. 
Whistler  has  shared  his  life  equally  between  America,  France,  and  England. 
He  is  the  one  solitary  example  of  cosmopolitanism  in  art,  for  there  is  nothing 
in  his  pictures  to  show  that  they  come  from  the  north,  the  south,  the  east,  or 
the  west." 

On  his  father's  side  he  was  descended  from  the  Irish  branch  of  an  old 
English  family,  his  grandfather,  Major  John  Whistler,  emigrating  to  this 
country  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century.  His  father  was  Major  George 
Washington  Whistler  of  the  United  States  army,  who  won  renown  as  an  engi- 
neer, and  after  assisting  at  the  building  of  railroads  in  this  country,  was 
called  to  Russia  by  Czar  Nicholas,  in  1842,  to  construct  the  railroad  between 
Moscow  and  St.  Petersburg.  He  was  married  twice.  One  of  the  three  chil- 
dren of  the  first  marriage  became  Lady  Haden,  the  wife  of  the  distinguished 
surgeon  and  etcher,  Sir  F.  Seymour  Haden.  For  his  second  wife  Major 
George  Whistler  married  Miss  Anna  Matilda  McNeill,  of  an  old  Southern 
family  from  Wilmington,  N.  C.  James  was  the  oldest  of  five  children  by  this 
marriage.  It  is  now  known  for  a  certainty  that  James  Abbott,  as  he  was 
christened,  was  born  in  Lowell,  Massachusetts,  on  July  10,  1834,  although 
he  himself  gave  as  his  birthplace  at  one  time  Baltimore,  and  at  another  St. 
Petersburg,  whimsically  claiming  that  a  man  had  a  right  to  change  his  civil 
estate  and  that  the  place  of  one's  birth  was  a  mere  accident.  When  his 
father  emigrated  to  St.  Petersburg,  in  1842,  he  took  his  family  with  him,  and 
here  he  remained  until  his  death,  in  1849;  thus  part  of  the  boyhood  of  the 
young  James  was  passed  in  the  Russian  capital,  where  he  learned  French, 
which  stood  him  in  such  good  stead  a  few  years  later.  Upon  the  death  of 
Major  Whistler  his  widow  returned  to  America,  and  James  entered  West 
Point  in  1851,  intending  to  take  up  the  career  of  his  father,  and  it  was  prob- 

[485] 


24 


MASTERS    IN  ART 


ably  because  of  his  father's  record  that  the  fact  of  the  son's  small  stature  was 
overlooked.  But  the  temperament  and  independence  of  spirit  of  the  young 
man  could  not  brook  the  discipline  of  military  life,  and  it  is  as  well  perhaps 
that  in  1854  he  was  discharged  for  deficiency  in  chemistry.  He  was  con- 
sidered the  best  draftsman  in  his  class,  and  readily  obtained  a  position  in  the 
Coast  Survey  Department  at  Washington.  He  remained  here  only  three 
months  and  five  days;  for,  being  sent  to  engrave  some  charts  showing  the 
coast  line  as  seen  from  the  sea,  he  sketched  some  heads  in  the  margin  of  the 
plate,  and  when  it  was  dipped  in  acid  in  his  absence,  and  the  sketches  were 
brought  to  light,  he  incurred  the  anger  of  the  head  of  the  department  and 
brought  about  his  own  dismissal.  The  next  year,  1855,  as  we  have  already 
noted,  he  left  America  to  study  art  in  Paris,  and  about  this  time  added  his 
mother's  name,  McNeill,  to  his  own  Christian  name.  He  entered  the  studio 
of  Gleyre,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  teachers  of  the  time.  Though  not  in 
sympathy  with  this  romanticist,  he  remained  here  two  years,  which  with  the 
instruction  in  drawing  at  West  Point  comprised  the  whole  of  his  art  training. 
For  associates  and  friends  he  had  such  young  artists  as  Degas,  Bracquemond, 
Legros,  Ribot,  and  especially  Fantin-Latour. 

The  first  known  oil-painting  by  Whistler  is  a  youthful  portrait  of  himself 
painted  in  these  student  days  of  1857  or  1858,  known  as  the  'Portrait  with 
the  Hat,'  conceived  much  in  the  style  of  Rembrandt.  His  debut  was  really 
made  in  etching,  in  the  charming  series  known  to  collectors  as  the  'Little 
French  Set,'  which  included  some  work  done  in  a  trip  to  Alsace  with  Legros, 
and  some  earlier  plates,  representing  the  popular  life  of  the  day  in  Paris,  as 
'The  Rag-picker,'  'The  Mustard-seller,'  'The  Kitchen,'  'The  Supper  at 
Three  Sous,'  and  portraits  of  his  sister's  children,  Annie  and  Arthur  Haden. 
These  were  published  by  Delatre,  in  1858,  at  fifty  francs  a  set.  In  1859  he 
sent  his  first  picture  to  the  Salon,  entitled  'At  the  Piano'  (Plate  1),  which 
was  refused,  but  exhibited  the  next  year  at  the  Royal  Academy,  and  bought 
by  John  Phillip,  R.  A.,  the  painter  of  Spanish  subjects. 

During  the  next  few  years  he  travelled  back  and  forth  between  Paris  and 
London,  visited  Holland,  and  got  as  far  as  Biarritz  on  an  anticipated  visit  to 
Madrid  to  see  the  portraits  there  by  Velasquez.  He  painted  such  pictures  as 
the  'Coast  of  Brittany,'  the  'Blue  Wave,  Biarritz,'  the  'Building  of  West- 
minster Bridge,'  and  'The  Thames  in  Ice,'  which  show  the  influence  of 
Courbet,  with  whom  he  was  an  intimate  friend  at  this  time  and  in  whose 
company  he  spent  two  summers  at  Trouville.  These,  however,  are  not 
characteristic  of  Whistler's  art  as  a  whole.  It  was  in  1863  that  he  sent  to  the 
Salon  a  truly  original  work,  'The  White  Girl,'  to  which  later  he  attached 
the  further  title  of  'Symphony  in  White,  Number  One.'  Although  refused 
here,  it  was  exhibited  at  the  'Salon  des  Refuses'  and  created  a  sensation. 
Whistler  had  come  into  his  own,  had  declared  himself,  and  henceforth  began 
his  fame  as  an  artist  and  his  years  of  controversy  with  the  French  and  British 
public.  'The  White  Girl'  represents  a  beautiful  young  girl,  dressed  in  a 
simple  gown  of  white,  her  red  hair  falling  on  her  shoulders,  as  she  stands  on 
a  white  fur  rug,  gazing  earnestly  at  the  spectator.  The  draperies  behind  her 

[486] 


WHISTLER 


25 


are  white,  and  she  holds  a  little  spray  of  white  flowers  in  her  hand.  There 
are  no  further  accessories,  and  the  picture  is  painted  with  a  simplicity  and 
tranquillity  and  a  feeling  for  atmosphere  which  suggest  Velasquez,  but  which 
are  yet  Whistler's  own.  The  model  was  a  young  Irish  girl,  named  Joe,  that 
he  and  Courbet  discovered  at  Trouville. 

As  M.  Leonce  Benedite  says,  '"The  White  Girl'  was  the  first  picture  to 
be  conceived  in  those  researches  for  tones  upon  tones  which  led  him  to  that 
system  of  musical  transpositions  whose  principles  henceforth  ruled  all  his 
work.  It  opens  the  series  to  which  belong  two  other  exquisite  pictures,  'The 
Symphony  in  White,  Number  Two,'  or  'The  Little  White  Girl'  (Plate  n)  — 
the  same  beautiful  Joe  with  the  red  locks,  a  fan  in  her  hand,  leaning  her  elbow 
upon  the  marble  mantel  —  and  'The  Symphony  in  White,  Number  Three,' 
where  she  is  still  reclining  upon  a  sofa,  in  company  with  another  charming 
model  with  light  hair." 

In  1863  Whistler  definitely  took  up  his  residence  in  Chelsea,  the  first  to 
discover  its  artistic  possibilities,  and  among  the  English  artists  he  made 
friends  with  Millais,  Rossetti,  and  Albert  Moore,  and  for  a  time  shared  a 
studio  with  Du  Maurier.  From  time  to  time  he  made  etchings  of  the  traffic 
of  the  river,  of  the  bridges,  the  old  wharves  and  buildings,  sixteen  of  which, 
known  as  the  'Thames  Set,'  were  published  in  187 1.  They  are  highly  prized 
by  collectors,  some  preferring  their  greater  detail  to  the  later  etchings  of 
Venice,  in  which  the  artist  had  learned  to  eliminate  everything  unessential. 
In  fact,  Whistler  was  as  great  an  etcher  as  a  painter,  and  his  fame  rests  equally 
on  these  exquisite  little  bits  and  upon  his  full-length  portraits  in  oil. 

About  this  time  Japan  was  discovered  to  be  a  storehouse  of  artistic  prod- 
ucts. Bracquemond,  the  most  extreme  realist  among  Whistler's  friends,  by 
chance  came  into  possession  of  a  book  of  prints  by  Hokusai,  and  the  French 
group  of  artists,  of  whom  Whistler  was  one  of  the  most  ardent,  became  very 
enthusiastic  over  Japanese  and  Chinese  art,  and  began  collecting  the  beautiful 
blue-and-white  china  and  rare  old  prints.  In  1864  Whistler  exhibited  at 
the  same  time  'The  Little  White  Girl,'  at  the  Royal  Academy, and  'La  Prin- 
cesse  du  Pays  de  la  Porcelaine'  (Plate  in)  at  the  Salon.  Though  the  subjects 
were  European,  both  show  in  their  scheme  of  coloring  and  decorative  acces- 
sories strong  Japanese  influence.  In  fact,  in  this  latter  picture  and  in  those 
of  'The  Lange  Leizen  of  the  Six  Marks,'  'The  Golden  Screen,'  and  'The 
Balcony'  Whistler  somewhat  literally  translated  the  art  of  Japan.  Later  he 
extracted  rather  the  essence  of  its  feeling  for  decoration  in  line  and  color. 
Mr.  Way  and  Mr.  Dennis  say,  however,  that  "all  these  pictures  are  charac- 
terized by  dainty  charm  of  color,  subtle  and  delicate  gradations  of  light,  grace 
and  dignity  of  line,  and  withal  by  a  distinction  of  style  which  defies  exact 
definition. " 

In  1 865- 1866  Whistler  made  a  trip  to  Valparaiso  for  his  health,  and  two 
very  beautiful  pictures  were  the  result,  'Twilight,  Valparaiso,  in  Flesh-color 
and  Green'  (Plate  x),  and  the  'Nocturne  in  Blue  and  Gold,'  as  well  as  the 
sea-piece,  'The  Ocean.'  But  it  was  in  the  seventies  that  Whistler's  art  was 
perhaps  at  its  high-water  mark,  and  he  painted  in  rapid  succession  those 

U87] 


26 


MASTERS   IN  ART 


three  portraits,  acknowledged  by  all  art  critics  to  be  his  masterpieces,  the 
'  Portrait  of  his  Mother '  (Plate  vi),the  '  Portrait  of  Thomas  Carlyle'  (Plate  vn) 
and  the  'Portrait  of  Miss  Alexander'  (Plate  vm).  The  first  was  exhibited  at 
the  Royal  Academy  in  1872;  the  two  latter,  at  a  special  exhibition  of  his 
work  at  Pall  Mall  in  1874. 

In  1877  Sir  Coutts  Lindsay,  wishing  to  start  the  Grosvenor  Gallery, 
consulted  Whistler,  who  joined  with  him  on  condition  that  a  large  wall- 
space  be  reserved  for  the  exhibition  of  his  own  work.  It  was  at  this  time 
that  he  exhibited  'Irving  as  Philip  11.  of  Spain,'  'The  Falling  Rocket  —  Ar- 
rangement in  Black  and  Gold,'  which  latter  picture  called  forth  the  caustic 
comment  from  Ruskin  in  'Fors  Clavigera'  that  "For  Mr.  Whistler's  own 
sake  no  less  than  for  the  protection  of  the  purchaser,  Sir  Coutts  Lindsay 
ought  not  to  have  admitted  works  into  the  gallery  in  which  the  ill-educated 
conceit  of  the  artist  so  nearly  approached  the  aspect  of  wilful  imposture.  I 
have  seen,  and  heard,  much  of  cockney  impudence  before  now;  but  never 
expected  *to  hear  a  coxcomb  ask  two  hundred  guineas  for  flinging  a  pot  of 
paint  in  the  public's  face."  Mr.  Whistler  immediately  sued  Ruskin  for  a 
thousand  pounds'  damage.  The  trial  was  held  in  November,  1878,  before 
Baron  Huddleston  and  a  special  jury.  Ruskin  pleaded  ill  health  and  failed 
to  appear,  but  Whistler  was  present  and  there  ensued  a  two  days'  trial  which 
held  the  crassness  of  the  British  public  in  art-matters  up  to  ridicule  and 
formed  most  amusing  reading  in  the  daily  journals.  The  trial  ended  in  a 
verdict  for  the  plaintiff,  and  Ruskin  was  charged  one  farthing  damages. 
Whistler  replied  in  a  pamphlet  entitled  'Whistler  vs.  Ruskin,  Art  and  Art 
Critics.' 

In  1879  and  1880  Whistler  was  in  Venice,  and  upon  his  return  exhibited  at 
the  Fine  Arts  Society  the  twelve  etchings  known  as  'Venice,  First  Series;' 
the  next  year,  fifty-three  pastels  of  Venice;  and  in  1883,  at  Messrs.  Dowdes- 
well's  Galleries,  fifty-one  prints  entitled  'Etchings  and  Dry  Points,  Second 
Series.'  As  Whistler  advanced  in  his  life  his  work  became  more  abstract  and 
ephemeral.  He  relied  much  less  on  the  form  of  things  than  the  color  har- 
monies. As  one  critic  says,  he  developed  from  a  realist  in  his  youth  to  a  spiritist 
in  his  later  years,  endeavoring  to  depict  the  essence  of  facts  rather  than  the 
facts  themselves.  He  took  for  the  titles  of  his  pictures  terms  borrowed  from 
music,  as  in  two  exhibitions  at  the  Dowdeswell  Galleries  in  1884  and  1886 
his  pictures  were  grouped  as  'Notes,  Harmonies,  and  Nocturnes.'  He  also 
exhibited  at  the  Grosvenor  Galleries  other  nocturnes,  and  several  portraits, 
including  'Miss  Rose  Corder'  (1879)  (Plate  v)>  <Lady  Meux'  (1882),  'Lady 
Archibald  Campbell;  or  the  Yellow  Buskin'  (1884).  At  these  special  exhibi- 
tions of  his  work  Whistler  was  very  particular  that  the  walls  and  hangings 
should  be  in  harmony  with  his  pictures,  and,  even  the  dainty  vignettes  of  invi- 
tation to  the  private  view  partook  of  the  main  color-note  in  the  exhibition. 
In  1882  he  was  made  a  member  of  the  Royal  Society  of  British  Artists,  and 
two  years  later  its  president;  but  he  was  forced  to  resign  in  1886,  his  reforms 
being  too  radical  to  please  the  older  artists  of  the  society,  although  he  had  the 
support  of  many  of  the  more  distinguished  members,  who  tendered  him  a 

[488] 


WHISTLER 


27 


complimentary  dinner  upon  his  resignation,  ostensibly  to  congratulate  him 
upon  his  election  to  the  Royal  Academy  of  Munich. 

Whistler  was  equally  at  home  in  all  mediums,  oil,  water-color,  pastels, 
etching,  and  lithography.  He  was  also  a  brilliant  and  extremely  witty  wri- 
ter. In  1885  he  had  delivered  at  both  Oxford  and  Cambridge  his  famous 
'Ten  O'Clock  Lecture,'  in  which  he  set  forth  his  theories  on  art,  the  lecture 
so  named  from  the  hour  at  which  it  was  delivered,  the  more  usual  one  being 
that  of  five  in  the  afternoon.  This  was  published  by  itself  in  1888,  and  again 
in  1890  in  'The  Gentle  Art  of  Making  Enemies,'  a  collection  of  the  various 
controversies  with  art  critics  in  which  for  so  many  years  the  sensitive  artist, 
always  indignant  at  any  slight  put  upon  his  art,  was  involved.  It  included  a 
personally  annotated  account  of  the  Ruskin  trial.  Whistler  was  in  a  measure 
justified  in  thus  perpetuating  an  account  of  his  quarrels,  as  he  discovered 
that  a  writer  unknown  to  him  had  made  the  attempt  to  publish  his  corre- 
spondence without  his  permission.  Though  the  book  forms  very  amusing 
reading,  it  had  best  be  forgotten,  or  at  least  not  taken  too  seriously,  lest  it 
give  a  one-sided  view  of  the  artist's  character. 

He  also  published  in  1899  an  account  of  the  law-suit  with  Sir  William 
Eden,  whose  wife's  portrait  he  had  agreed  to  paint.  This  last  was  called  'The 
Baronet  and  the  Butterfly.'  This  brings  to  mind  the  fact  that  during  the 
sixties  more  especially  Whistler  was  accustomed  to  sign  his  paintings  and 
etchings  by  a  dainty  butterfly  rather  Japanese  in  character,  in  place  of  the 
usual  written  name.  Mr.  Mortimer  Menpes,  who  was  a  favorite  pupil  of 
Whistler's,  relates  that  when  Whistler  was  making  prints  of  some  of  his  etch- 
ings he  would  ask  the  former  where  he  thought  the  butterfly  should  go.  After 
a  little  practice  Menpes  would  decide  exactly  in  accordance  with  what  the 
master  considered  the  precise  spot  to  preserve  the  balance  of  the  composition. 

Among  other  interests  Whistler  turned  his  attention  to  house  decoration. 
His  own  house  was  said  to  have  had  simple  Japanese  mattings  on  the  floor 
and  to  have  been  furnished  with  blue-and-white  china  and  beautiful  old  silver. 
One  can  see  from  the  backgrounds  and  accessories  in  his  portraits  that  he 
loved  simple  but  refined  surroundings;  especially  was  he  fond  of  black-and- 
white  harmonies.  The  walls  of  his  studio  were  painted  gray,  and  he  often 
posed  his  models  in  the  half-light  to  get  more  mysterious  effects  of  atmos- 
phere. His  great  achievement  in  interior  decoration  was  in  that  of  the  fa- 
mous 'Peacock  Room,'  or  the  dining-room,  in  the  house  of  Mr.  F.  R.  Ley- 
land,  the  wealthy  ship-owner  and  art-lover.  The  room  had  been  entirely  re- 
decorated by  a  London  firm,  the  walls  hung  with  Spanish  leather,  and  the 
longest  side  of  the  room  fitted  with  light  shelves  for  the  display  of  blue-and- 
white  china.  Whistler's  painting  of  the  '  Princesse  du  Pays  de  la  Porcelaine' 
hung  over  the  mantelpiece  at  one  end.  The  artist  was  dissatisfied  with  the 
harmony  of  the  surroundings,  began  by  lightening  up  the  leather  with  touches 
of  blue,  and  ended  by  transforming  the  whole  room.  The  color-scheme  was 
that  of  peacock  blue  on  gold  and  gold  on  peacock  blue.  The  window-shutters 
when  closed  presented  birds  done  in  gold  upon  a  superb  peacock-blue  back- 
ground, while  upon  the  same  background  on  the  end  wall  opposite  the  'Prin- 

[489] 


28 


MASTERS   IN  ART 


cesse,'  a  space  intended  for  a  portrait  of  the  three  daughters  of  Mr.  Leyland, 
commissioned  of  Mr.  Whistler,  the  latter  painted  two  golden  peacocks  fight- 
ing. Upon  the  paneled  ceiling  Mr.  Whistler  added  the  decoration  of  the  eyes 
of  peacocks'  feathers.  Mr.  Charles  L.  Freer,  of  Detroit,  Michigan,  who  a 
few  years  ago  acquired  the  painting  of  the  'Princesse,'  has  more  recently 
acquired  the  decorations  of  this  room  and  has  had  them  transferred  to 
America,  so  that  the  '  Princesse '  lives  again  in  her  former  magnificent  environ- 
ment. Whistler  also  decorated  the  music-room  of  his  friend  Sarasate,  the 
violinist  in  Paris,  in  a  color-scheme  of  yellow  and  white  with  touches  of  pink. 

There  was  held  in  1892,  at  Messrs.  Goupil's  galleries,  the  first  representa- 
tive exhibition  of  his  paintings.  Forty-three  canvases,  called  'Nocturnes, 
Marines,  and  Chevalet  Pieces,'  were  hung  upon  the  walls.  In  1891  the  cor- 
poration of  the  city  of  Glasgow  bought  his  '  Portrait  of  Carlyle,'  the  first  of 
his  pictures  to  be  acquired  by  a  public  gallery.  About  the  same  time  the 
Luxembourg  bought  his  'Portrait  of  his  Mother.'  (At  the  present  time  the 
picture  is  not  on  view,  though,  following  the  established  rule,  it  will  doubt- 
less be  removed  to  the  Louvre  ten  years  after  the  artist's  death.)  At  this  time 
his  pictures  began  to  be  bought  by  collectors  in  America. 

During  the  nineties  he  confined  himself  to  painting  small  oils,  as  the  'Mas- 
ter Smith '  and  the  '  Little  Rose  of  Lyme  Regis '  now  belonging  to  the  Boston 
Art  Museum,  and  to  the  making  of  lithographs.  Some  of  these  latter  were 
the  result  of  a  trip  to  Brittany;  others  were  made  in  the  garden  of  a  house  in 
the  Rue  de  Bac  in  Paris  where  he  lived  for  a  time;  and  still  others  from  the 
upper  window  of  the  Savoy  Hotel  on  the  Thames  Embankment,  where  his 
wife  lay  ill.  He  had  married,  in  1888,  the  widow  of  the  noted  architect,  E.  W. 
Godwin,  she  herself  an  artist  of  much  talent.  She  died  in  1896,  and  Whistler 
again  removed  to  Chelsea.  He  died  on  July  17,  1903,  surrounded  by  his 
wife's  relatives.  He  had  been  ailing  for  some  time  with  an  affection  of  the 
lungs,  but  was  working  up  to  the  last.  He  was  buried  beside  his  mother  in 
Chiswick  cemetery.  His  sister-in-law,  Miss  R.  Birnie  Phillip,  was  made  his 
executrix  and  sole  legatee.  About  a  year  after  his  death  a  memorial  exhibi- 
tion was  held  in  Boston,  the  great  number  of  oils,  etchings,  and  work  in  other 
media  shown  giving  a  very  adequate  idea  of  the  artist's  achievement  and 
successes.  Many  of  them  were  loaned  by  Mr.  Freer,  of  Detroit.  A  similar 
exhibition  was  held  shortly  after  in  London.  Thus  Whistler  was  honored  by 
the  American  and  British  public,  who  had  come  to  realize  that  they  had  lost 
a  man  of  real  genius.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  very  recently  a  tablet,  in 
the  form  of  a  Greek  stele,  was  set  up  to  his  memory  at  the  West  Point  Acad- 
emy, the  work  of  the  late  Augustus  St.  Gaudens,  and  the  gift  of  the  Copley 
Society  of  Boston. 

When  Whistler  finally  sent  his  portrait  of  his  mother  to  the  Salon  of  1883 
he  received  a  third-class  medal,  and  in  1889  the  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor. 
In  his  later  years  he  received  much  recognition,  but,  most  unjustly,  he  was 
never  elected  to  the  Royal  Academy  in  London.  He  was  made,  however,  an 
Officer  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  Member  of  the  Societe  Nationale  des  Artistes 
Francais,  Honorary  Member  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  St.  Luke,  Rome, 

[490] 


WHISTLER 


29 


Commander  of  the  Order  of  the  Crown  of  Italy,  Honorary  Member  of  the 
Royal  Academy  of  Bavaria,  Chevalier  of  the  Order  of  St.  Michael,  and 
Honorary  Member  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Dresden. 


Cije  art  of  3fames  9L  ittc#etll  ^fustier 

FROM  THE   'TEN  O'CLOCK  LECTURE'  J.   MCNEILL  WHISTLER 

NATURE  contains  the  elements,  in  color  and  form,  of  all  pictures,  as 
the  keyboard  contains  the  notes  of  all  music. 
But  the  artist  is  born  to  pick,  and  choose,  and  group  with  science,  these 
elements,  that  the  result  may  be  beautiful  —  as  the  musician  gathers  his 
notes,  and  forms  his  chords,  until  he  bring  forth  from  chaos  glorious  har- 
mony. 

To  say  to  the  painter  that  nature  is  to  be  taken  as  she  is  is  to  say  to  the 
player  that  he  may  sit  on  the  piano. 

That  nature  is  always  right  is  an  assertion,  artistically,  as  untrue  as  it  is 
one  whose  truth  is  universally  taken  for  granted.  Nature  is  very  rarely  right  — 
to  such  an  extent,  even,  that  it  might  almost  be  said  that  nature  is  usually 
wrong;  that  is  to  say,  the  condition  of  things  that  shall  bring  about  the  per- 
fection of  harmony  worthy  a  picture  is  rare,  and  not  common  at  all. 

This  would  seem,  to  even  the  most  intelligent,  a  doctrine  almost  blas- 
phemous. So  incorporated  with  our  education  has  the  supposed  aphorism 
become  that  its  belief  is  held  to  be  part  of  our  moral  being,  and  the  words 
themselves  have,  in  our  ear,  the  ring  of  religion.  Still,  seldom  does  nature 
succeed  in  producing  a  picture. 

The  sun  blares,  the  wind  blows  from  the  east,  the  sky  is  bereft  of  cloud, 
and  without,  all  is  of  iron.  The  windows  of  the  Crystal  Palace  are  seen  from 
all  points  of  London.  The  holiday-maker  rejoices  in  the  glorious  day,  and 
the  painter  turns  aside  to  shut  his  eyes. 

How  little  this  is  understood,  and  how  dutifully  the  casual  in  nature  is 
accepted  as  sublime,  may  be  gathered  from  the  unlimited  admiration  daily 
produced  by  a  very  foolish  sunset. 

The  dignity  of  the  snow-capped  mountain  is  lost  in  distinctness,  but  the 
joy  of  the  tourist  is  to  recognize  the  traveller  on  the  top.  The  desire  to  see, 
for  the  sake  of  seeing,  is,  with  the  mass,  alone  the  one  to  be  gratified;  hence 
the  delight  in  detail. 

And  when  the  evening  mist  clothes  the  riverside  with  poetry,  as  with  a 
veil,  and  the  poor  buildings  lose  themselves  in  the  dim  sky,  and  the  tall 
chimneys  become  campanili,  and  the  warehouses  are  palaces  in  the  night, 
and  the  whole  city  hangs  in  the  heavens,  and  fairy-land  is  before  us  — then 
the  wayfarer  hastens  home;  the  working  man  and  the  cultured  one,  the  wise 
man  and  the  one  of  pleasure,  cease  to  understand,  as  they  have  ceased  to 
see;  and  Nature,  who,  for  once,  has  sung  in  tune,  sings  her  exquisite  song  to 

[491] 


30 


MASTERS   IN  ART 


the  artist  alone,  her  son  and  her  master  —  her  son  in  that  he  loves  her,  her 
master  in  that  he  knows  her. 

To  him  her  secrets  are  unfolded;  to  him  her  lessons  have  become  grad- 
ually clear.  He  looks  at  her  flower,  not  with  the  enlarging-lens,  that  he  may 
gather  facts  for  the  botanist,  but  with  the  light  of  the  one  who  sees  in  her 
choice  selection  of  brilliant  tones  and  delicate  tints  suggestions  of  future 
harmonies. 

He  does  not  confine  himself  to  purposeless  copying,  without  thought,  each 
blade  of  grass,  as  commended  by  the  inconsequent;  but,  in  the  long  curve  of 
the  narrow  leaf,  corrected  by  the  straight,  tall  stem,  he  learns  how  grace  is 
wedded  to  dignity,  how  strength  enhances  sweetness,  that  elegance  shall  be 
the  result. 

In  the  citron  wing  of  the  pale  butterfly,  with  its  dainty  spots  of  orange,  he 
sees  before  him  the  stately  halls  of  fair  gold,  with  their  slender  saffron  pillars, 
and  is  taught  how  the  delicate  drawing  high  upon  the  walls  shall  be  traced  in 
tender  tones  of  orpiment,  and  repeated  by  the  base  in  notes  of  graver  hue. 

In  all  that  is  dainty  and  lovable  he  finds  hints  for  his  own  combinaticns, 
and  thus  is  nature  ever  his  resource  and  always  at  his  service,  and  to  him  is 
naught  refused. 

Through  his  brain,  as  through  the  last  alembic,  is  distilled  the  refined 
essence  of  that  thought  which  began  with  the  gods,  and  which  they  left  him 
to  carry  out. 

Set  apart  by  them  to  complete  their  works,  he  produces  that  wondrous 
thing  called  the  masterpiece,  which  surpasses  in  perfection  all  that  they  have 
contrived  in  what  is  called  nature;  and  the  gods  stand  by  and  marvel,  and 
perceive  how  far  away  more  beautiful  is  the  Venus  of  Melos  than  was  their 
own  Eve. 

FREDERICK  WEDMORE  FROM  THE   'NINETEENTH  CENTURY* 

EVEN  those  who  have  had  only  a  casual  acquaintance  with  the  life  per- 
formance of  Whistler  must  have  been  struck  with  the  variety  of  the 
mediums  used  by  him  for  its  accomplishment.  It  is  almost  easier  to  name 
those  mediums  or  channels  of  expression  he  avoided  than  those  that  he  em- 
ployed. He  did  not  work  in  mezzotint.  He  did  not  work  in  line  engraving. 
The  rare,  yet  occasionally  revived,  practice  of  silver-point  drawing  he  never 
resorted  to.  But  he  painted  in  oils;  he  painted  in  water-color;  pastels  he  made 
so  admirably  that  he  may  even  be  held  responsible  for  "prettily  spurring  on" 
some  heavier-footed  comrades  to  make  them  badly;  dainty  was  his  touch  with 
the  pencil;  with  M.  Fantin-Latour  he  shares  the  honors  of  the  happy  revival 
of  artistic  lithography;  and  in  the  art  of  etching,  whatever  may  have  been  his 
limitations,  his  place,  by  reason  of  his  qualities,  is  by  the  side  of  Rembrandt 
and  of  Meryon.  .  .  . 

Unless  it  be  thanks  only  to  some  half-dozen  masterpieces,  not  as  a  painter, 
not  as  a  stern  draftsman  of  the  figure,  will  Whistler  live  by  the  side  of  the 
greatest  artists  in  wall-surface  or  canvas,  or  on  the  sheet  of  drawing-paper. 
If  to  realize  with  precision  either  texture  or  anatomy  was  not  in  truth  his  aim, 

[492] 


WHISTLE  R 


scarcely  more  was  it  his  aim  —  though  indeed  it  was  occasionally  his  achieve- 
ment —  to  sound  the  depths  of  character.  Character  was  not  the  thing  in 
life  that  most  interested  him.  If  it  had  been,  dramatic  painting  and  anecdotic 
painting,  with  their  inevitable  approach  to  some  qualities  of  literature,  would 
not  have  annoyed  him  so  much.  I  am  not  disparaging  for  a  moment  the  paint- 
ing he  liked,  the  painting  he  practised  —  I  am  only  trying  to  define  what  it 
was,  and  what  it  was  not.  Whatever  it  represented,  it  was  suffered,  tolerated, 
approved,  by  himself,  on  condition  that  it  was  at  least  an  agreeable  pattern 
of  color  and  line.  Nature  suggested  it;  but  it  was  not  bound  by  nature.  Fact 
was  in  it,  in  abundance  —  fact  most  penetratingly  seen  —  but  from  the  fetters 
of  fact  its  freedom  was  expressly  and  constantly  declared.  .  .  . 

But  that  is  not  the  attitude  of  mind  of  a  great  painter  generally,  unless  he 
be  a  decorative  painter,  only  or  mainly;  unless  he  be,  for  instance,  to  name 
artists  of  different  ideals,  yet  with  this  one  thing  in  common,  a  Tintoretto,  a 
Veronese,  a  Pietro  da  Cortona,  a  Boucher,  a  Puvis  de  Chavannes.  Of 
Whistler,  it  was  constantly  the  attitude  of  mind;  and  among  the  very  greatest 
decorative  painters  of  the  world  he  might  have  been,  had  he  had  Tintoretto's 
opulent  palette,  or  the  majesty  of  Veronese's  draftsmanship,  or  the  remote, 
suave  dignity  of  the  design  of  Puvis  de  Chavannes. 

His  principle  that  a  pictorial  work  must  before  everything  be  decorative 
he  applied  in  different  degrees.  Frankly  and  simply  decorative  he  was  but 
on  rare  occasions  —  the  greatest  of  them,  the  opportunity  best  offered  and 
best  seized,  being  the  occasion  that  presented  itself  when  he  had  his  way  with 
Mr.  Leyland's  dining-room,  and,  beginning,  I  believe,  with  the  modest  aim 
of  accommodating  a  little  the  work  already  there  to  some  framed  work  of 
his  that  was  to  be  hung  among  it,  wrought  gradually,  yet  with  a  perfection 
as  complete  as  if  one  thought  had  guided  him  from  the  beginning  —  wrought 
gradually  the  *  Peacock  Room.'  Much  oftener,  in  cabinet  picture,  in  framed 
canvas,  whether  definite  and  professed  portrait  or  pleasant  grouping  of 
draped  models,  or  vision  of  the  town  or  river  in  gray  daylight  or  in  the  mystery 
of  night  or  dawn,  his  painting,  decorative  undoubtedly,  was  a  concession  — 
no  abandonment  of  principle,  but  a  compromise  that  recognized  the  rights 
of  Truth  and  of  Fancy.  For  Fact  and  Beauty  —  so  often  incompatible  —  he 
found  a  modus  vivendi.  Sometimes  much  effort,  much  invention,  much  in- 
genuity— what  he  would  have  called  much  "science" — was  required  to  make 
this  compromise  effective;  and  there  were  always  required  instinct  and  fine 
taste.  But  sometimes  of  obvious,  necessary  effort  there  was  very  little;  Na- 
ture herself  sang  in  tune;  and  so  we  have  such  a  picture  as  Mr.  Alexander's 
'Nocturne  in  Silver  and  Blue,'  Mr.  McCulloch's  'Valparaiso  Harbor,'  or  the 
silvery  and  brown-gray  vision  of 'London  in  Ice.'  .  .  . 

Perfect  indeed  are  certain  of  the  performances  of  Whistler  in  painting,  and 
I  have  mentioned  some  of  them  —  on  the  whole  perhaps  the  best  of  them  — 
and  in  doing  so  I  have  not  been  able  to  avoid  mentioning  too,  already,  two 
or  three  of  the  etchings  —  the  etchings  perfect  in  so  much  greater  proportion 
and  perfect  in  so  much  greater  number.  But  another  word  about  the  paint- 
ing, and  a  word,  too,  that  is  of  general  application  to  the  range  of  Whistler's 

[493] 


32 


MASTERS   IN  ART 


art.  A  master  not  so  much  of  every  difficult  problem  of  draftsmanship,  as  of 
composition  in  line  and  in  mass,  as  of  refined  and  broad  expressive  brush- 
work,  as  of  color,  as,  above  all,  of  tone,  Whistler,  in  the  main  original,  pro- 
foundly, did  submit  conspicuously,  in  the  course  of  his  life,  to  two  influences. 
He  submitted  to  the  influence  of  Albert  Moore,  and  to  that  of  the  art  of  Japan. 
It  is  important  that  both  these  influences  should  be  recognized  —  the  second 
jumps  to  the  surface  in  the  'Princesse  du  Pays  de  la  Porcelaine'  and  in  'The 
Golden  Screen' — it  is  important  also  that  their  limitations  should  be  ac- 
knowledged; they  did  not,  in  truth,  last  very  long  or  extend  very  far.  The 
various  'Symphonies  in  White' — the  more  intricate  of  them  especially  — 
betray  the  influence  of  Albert  Moore;  as  to  whom  I  have  been  asked  whether 
indeed  it  was  Whistler  who  influenced  him  or  he  who  influenced  Whistler. 
It  was  the  latter,  of  course;  and  it  is  shown  not  only  in  certain  of  the  paint- 
ings, but  in  a  good  many  pastels.  .  .  .  Nor  is  it  pretended  that  Velasquez, 
nor  is  it  conceivable  that  Rembrandt,  passed  before  the  eye  of  this  alert  and 
ever  flexible  practitioner  and  had  no  effect  on  his  practice. 

A  last  line  chronicles,  however,  the  fact  that  more  to  Whistler  than  to  any 
one  who  has  worked  with  brush  or  needle  do  we  owe  that  complete  acceptance 
of  modern  life,  of  the  modern  world,  of  all  that  is  miscalled  its  ugliness,  of  its 
aspects  of  every  day;  which  complete  acceptance,  remember,  whether  in 
pictorial  art  or  the  art  that  is  literature,  is  the  most  salient  characteristic  of 
our  time.  Whistler,  with  a  nature  essentially  aristocratic  —  knowing  well, 
in  the  depths  of  his  being,  that  art  of  any  kind  and  the  "man  in  the  street" 
have  nothing  in  common;  that  what  is  called  the  "plain  man"  and  art  are 
forever  divided  —  yet  accepted  the  very  things  that  are  most  commonplace 
to  commonplace  people,  and  showed  us  their  interest. 

T.  R.  WAY  AND  G.  R.  DENNIS  'THE    ART    OF  JAMES    MCNEILL  WHISTLER' 

THERE  are  but  few  of  the  great  painters  who  have  not  delighted  in 
portraiture.  Many  of  the  greatest  —  Holbein,  Rembrandt,  Velasquez  — 
have  made  it  their  principal  work  in  life;  others  equally  great,  such  as  Tinto- 
retto, have  been  forced  to  paint  portraits  as  a  means  of  living,  while  engaged 
on  work  which  they  considered  more  important.  To  Mr.  Whistler  portrait- 
painting  was  as  serious  as  any  other  branch  of  his  art,  and  the  general  verdict 
is  that  in  portraiture  he  reached  his  highest  achievement  as  a  painter.  It  is 
possible  to  understand,  though  not  easy  to  sympathize  with,  people  who  fail 
to  appreciate  the  tender  beauty  of  his  nocturnes,  or  who  are  not  touched  by 
the  decorative  charm  of  his  Japanese  arrangements;  but  his  portraits  —  though 
it  is  true  that  they  were  received  with  the  same  ignorant  conservatism  which 
ever  greets  what  goes  beyond  the  conventional  in  art  —  stand  now  beyond 
criticism;  and  it  is  permissible  to  believe  that  the  'Mother's  Portrait,'  the 
'Carlyle,'  the  'Miss  Alexander,'  the  'Rose  Corder,'  and  many  others,  will 
always  be  ranked  among  the  greatest  pictures  of  all  time. 

Mr.  Whistler's  portraits  differ  radically  from  those  of  his  contemporaries. 
He  seems  first  of  all  to  have  considered  what  may  be  called  the  decorative 
qualities  of  his  sitter;  in  his  early  period  especially  he  aimed  at  producing  a 

[494] 


WHISTLER 


33 


picture  which  in  its  color-scheme,  and  the  arrangements  of  masses  of  light 
and  dark,  should  be  beautiful  in  itself,  and  equally  interesting  to  the  spectator, 
whether  he  happened  to  know  the  sitter  or  not.  He  never  attempted  to  pro- 
duce a  startling  realistic  likeness,  such  as  is  approved  by  the  philistine  and  the 
Academician.  But  after  much  study  he  gained  an  insight  into  the  real  char- 
acter of  the  man  or  woman  he  was  painting,  and  portrayed  the  best  side  of 
that  character;  the  result,  though  it  was  an  idealized  version,  as  remote  from 
all  transitory  expression  as  the  Infantas  of  Velasquez  in  the  Louvjre  or  the 
Philip  iv.  in  the  National  Gallery,  remaining  always  a  real  likeness  of  his 
model.  It  is  true  that  some  of  his  sitters  were  disappointed  in  their  portraits, 
but,  as  St.  James  pointed  out  long  ago,  no  man  realizes  his  true  outward  ap- 
pearance; after  "beholding  his  natural  face  in  a  glass"  he  "goeth  his  way,  and 
straightway  forgetteth  what  manner  of  man  he  was.  .  .  ." 

Mr.  Whistler  has  himself  laid  down  the  principles  by  which  he  was  guided 
in  portrait-painting,  knowing  that  a  picture  of  this  kind  has  to  be  lived  with, 
and  that  transient  expression  will  rarely  please  the  beholder  for  any  great 
length  of  time.  "The  imitator,"  he  says,  "is  a  poor  kind  of  creature.  If  the 
man  who  paints  only  the  tree,  or  flower,  or  other  surface  he  sees  before  him 
were  an  artist,  the  king  of  artists  would  be  the  photographer.  It  is  for  the 
artist  to  do  something  beyond  this:  in  portrait-painting  to  put  on  canvas 
something  more  than  the  face  the  model  wears  for  that  one  day;  to  paint  the 
man,  in  short,  as  well  as  his  features;  in  arrangement  of  colors  to  treat  a 
flower  as  his  key,  not  as  his  model." 

For  many  years  Mr.  Whistler  seemed  to  have  a  great  preference  for  paint- 
ing the  full-length  figure  in  life-size.  Unfortunately,  the  great  size  of  the  can- 
vases required  for  such  portraits  is  a  disadvantage  in  an  ordinary  house,  as 
they  can  only  be  properly  seen  in  a  gallery  or  in  a  very  large  room,  where  they 
can  be  hung  so  that  the  bottom  of  the  frame  almost  rests  on  the  floor  —  not, 
as  we  usually  see  them,  with  the  feet  on  the  level  of  our  eyes.  Yet  the  principle 
is  right,  and  the  result  far  more  satisfactory  than  when  the  frame  cuts  off  the 
figure  at  the  knees  or  in  the  middle.  The  whole  being  is  before  us  in  his 
natural  attitude,  and  in  graceful  and  dignified  repose.  The  great  full-lengths 
of  Velasquez  probably  taught  him  the  value  of  this  arrangement,  which,  how- 
ever, he  carried  out  in  his  own  way,  never  attempting  to  give  the  great  force 
and  vigor  of  effect  which  the  Spanish  master  delighted  in,  but  posing  his 
models  in  a  much  more  subdued  light,  such  as  is  natural  to  our  more  northern 
climate.  It  will  be  noticed  how  full  of  resource  he  was  in  overcoming  the 
difficulties  presented  by  the  dress  of  his  sitters.  A  woman's  costume  is  as  a 
rule  comparatively  easy  for  an  artist  to  deal  with;  but  a  full-length  portrait 
of  a  man  standing  is  much  more  difficult  to  manage.  The  two  parallel  lines 
of  the  legs  present  a  tremendous  problem,  especially  in  evening  dress,  graceful 
though  it  can  be.  Yet  it  will  be  seen  how  admirably  the  difficulties  are  over- 
come in  the  portrait  of  M.  Duret.  The  full-length  figure  of  Mr.  Leyland  is 
dealt  with  in  a  somewhat  similar  way,  the  dark  figures  in  each  case  being  re- 
lieved against  light  backgrounds,  with  few  accessories  of  any  kind. 


[49  5] 


34 


MASTERS   IN  ART 


%ty  3^orks  of  Mantes  a*  jftc#etll  ^tstier 

DESCRIPTIONS   OF   THE  PLATES 
'AT   THE  PIANO'  PLATE  I 

THE  first  picture  that  Mr.  Whistler  exhibited  was  the  original  of  this 
plate.  It  was  hung  at  the  Royal  Academy  in  i860.  Mr.  Way  and  Mr. 
Dennis,  who  have  written  a  most  sympathetic  "Appreciation"  of  the  artist 
without  overpraising  him,  describe  it  as  follows:  "It  represents  a  lady  in 
black  —  Mrs.  (now  Lady)  Seymour  Haden,  the  painter's  sister  —  seated  at 
a  grand  piano,  while  her  little  daughter,  who  figures  in  so  many  of  Mr.  Whist- 
ler's etchings,  leans  against  the  instrument  and  gazes  with  rapt  attention  at 
her  mother.  Under  the  piano  are  some  green  violin-cases,  and  behind  the 
player  to  the  left  is  a  table  with  a  blue-and-green  bowl  on  it.  The  pose  of  the 
child  is  full  of  grace  and  charm,  and  her  white  dress  stands  out  in  strong 
contrast  against  the  dark  brown  wood  of  the  piano  and  the  rich  red  of  the  car- 
pet; but  the  perfect  tone  of  the  white  entirely  overcomes  any  suggestion  of 
violence  or  harshness,  and  the  wall  above  the  piano  is  filled  in  a  satisfying  way 
with  the  lower  edges  of  framed  pictures  hanging  on  it.  The  effect  of  the 
whole  picture  is  one  of  great  dignity  and  repose." 

In  another  connection  the  same  critics  write:  "In  studying  Mr.  Whistler's 
paintings,  we  find  that  in  the  character  of  the  treatment  his  earliest  exhibited 
works  differ  distinctly  from  those  which  succeeded  them.  In  the  'Piano  Pic- 
ture' and  'La  Mere  Gerard'  the  canvas  is  loaded  with  paint,  and  there  is 
apparent  an  immense  vigor  which  is  entirely  absent  from  pictures  of  a  later 
period.  In  their  force  and  richness  of  tone  they  suggest  the  influence  of  a 
study  of  Tintoretto.  With  the  growth  of  experience  and  the  development  of 
his  power  he  discarded  this  earlier  manner  and  began  to  paint  with  the  thin- 
nest of  oil  paint,  almost  as  liquid  as  water,  and  always  with  a  full  brush." 

SYMPHONY  IN  WHITE  NO.  TWO,    'THE  LITTLE  WHITE  GIRL'  PLATE  II 

IT  is  interesting  to  note  in  connection  with  this  picture  that  Mr.  Whistler 
did  not  originally  call  this  series  of  four  paintings  "symphonies."  He  thus 
denoted  them  in  later  years,  though  from  the  first  titles,  as  in  this  of  'The 
Little  White  Girl,'  it  is  evident  that  the  decorative  quality  of  the  picture  in- 
terested him  more  deeply  than  the  subject-matter.  Mr.  Way  and  Mr.  Dennis 
write:  "'The  Little  White  Girl'  (Symphony  in  White,  Number  Two),  which 
belongs  to  Mr.  A.  H.  Studd,  is  still  more  lovely  than  'The  White  Girl.'  It 
represents  a  young  girl  standing  in  front  of  the  fireplace,  with  her  arm  on 
the  mantelpiece,  on  which  are  a  blue-and-white  porcelain  vase  and  a  bright 
piece  of  red  lacquer.  She  is  simply  dressed  in  pure  white  and  holds  a  bril- 
liantly decorated  Japanese  fan  in  her  hand.  Her  face  and  head  are  reflected 
in  the  looking-glass,  in  which  are  to  be  seen  also  reflections  of  two  pictures  on 
the  walls.  On  the  right  are  some  sprays  of  delicate  pink-and-white  azalea. 
The  girl  herself  has  no  claim  to  give  additional  charm  to  the  picture.   It  is 

[49G] 


WHISTLER 


35 


impossible  to  look  at  it  without  feeling  what  a  superb  result  has  been  achieved 
out  of  homely  materials.  The  colors  used  are  most  brilliant;  the  red  of  the 
lacquer,  the  blues  of  the  vase  and  the  Japanese  fan,  the  pink  of  the  azaleas, 
are  all  of  the  strongest,  yet  so  absolutely  perfect  are  they  in  themselves  and 
in  their  relation  to  one  another  that  the  whole  seems  like  some  exhilarating 
allegro  in  a  major  key.  This  picture  with  its  haunting  beauty  is  so  full  of 
poetic  charm  and  mystery  that  one  cannot  wonder  that  it  inspired  Mr.  Swin- 
burne to  write  the  poem  entitled  '  Before  the  Mirror,'  which  begins: 

"  '  White  rose  in  red  rose-garden 

Is  not  so  white. 
Snowdrops  that  plead  for  pardon 

And  pine  for  fright 
Because  the  hard  East  blows 
Over  their  maiden  rows 
Grow  not  as  this  face  grows 

Pale  to  bright.'  " 

ARRANGEMENT   IN    ROSE   AND  SILVER 

'LA    PRINCESSE    DU    PAYS    DE    LA    PORCELAINE'  PLATE  III 

TO  quote  again  from  Mr.  Way  and  Mr.  Dennis:  "Mr.  Whistler  was  an 
enthusiastic  student  and  admirer  of  Japanese  paintings  and  color-prints 
at  a  time  when  they  were  generally  looked  upon  as  mere  eccentric  curiosities, 
and  a  quarter  of  a  century  before  they  became  sought  after  by  collectors;  and 
the  strength  of  his  personality  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  he  was  able  to  assimi- 
late the  artistic  principles  and  ideals  of  the  East  without  ever  for  a  moment 
losing  his  own  individuality.  He  saw  what  was  beautiful  in  oriental  art, 
and  developed  his  own  art  for  a  time  on  the  same  lines;  but  even  in  pictures 
such  as  'The  Balcony,'  'La  Princesse  du  Pays  de  la  Porcelaine,'  and  'The 
Golden  Screen,'  in  which  he  clothed  his  models  in  Japanese  costumes  and 
surrounded  them  with  Japanese  accessories,  the  Eastern  influence,  obvious 
as  it  is,  is  modified  by  European  tradition  and  European  ideals.  .  .  . 

"The  beautiful  full-length  portrait  of  Miss  Spartali,  known  as  'La  Prin- 
cesse du  Pays  de  la  Porcelaine,'  of  which  the  Peacock  Room  in  Mr.  Leyland's 
house  was  once  the  setting,  is  ...  a  wonderful  creation,  gorgeous  in  color 
and  highly  decorative  in  treatment.  The  full-length  figure  is  clothed  in  an 
elaborate  Japanese  costume,  and  holds  a  fan  in  her  hand.  On  the  floor  is  a 
brilliant  rug,  and,  behind,  a  delicately  painted  screen.  The  grace  and  dignity 
of  the  '  Princesse,'  the  flowing  lines  of  whose  figure  contrast,  as  in  so  many  of 
Mr.  Whistler's  pictures,  with  the  straight,  simple  lines  of  the  screen  in  the 
background,  and  the  splendor  of  her  surroundings,  combine  to  make  up  a 
whole  of  incomparable  beauty." 

ARRANGEMENT   IN   BLACK,   'PORTRAIT   OF    PABLO   SARASATE*  PLATE  IV 

IN  the  portrait  of  Pablo  Sarasate,  painted  in  1885,"  writes  Richard 
Muther,  "the  violinist  emerges  out  of  misty  grayish  black  darkness, 
holding  his  violin  in  one  hand  and  his  bow  in  the  other.  He  is  in  evening 
clothes,  entirely  in  black  except  for  his  shirt  and  tie,  and  in  the  dark  atmos- 
phere his  expressive  hands  acquire  a  sensitive,  phantom-like  animation.  His 

[497] 


36 


MASTERS   IN  ART 


figure  looks  as  though  it  were  floating  into  another  world  or  coming  from  a 
far  distant  beyond." 

M.  Theodore  Duret,  the  eminent  critic,  whose  portrait  by  Whistler  is  one 
of  the  finest  the  artist  ever  painted,  suggests  that  Whistler  painted  Senor 
Sarasate  against  a  black  background  to  get  variety,  as  he  never  liked  to  re- 
peat a  motive.  He  had  already  painted  M.  Duret  in  black  evening  clothes 
against  a  light  background,  holding  a  rose-pink  domino  over  his  arm  and  a 
fan  of  the  same  color  in  his  hand.  Another  critic  remarks  that  the  extreme 
elegance  of  the  figure  of  the  violinist  recalls  the  appearance  of  Mr.  Whistler 
when  he  appeared  at  Oxford,  to  give  his  famous  'Ten  O'Clock  Lecture.' 

Exhibited  at  the  Society  of  British  Artists  in  1885,  this  picture  now  belongs 
to  the  Carnegie  Institute,  Pittsburgh. 

ARRANGEMENT   IN    BROWN    AND  BLACK 

'PORTRAIT   OF   ROSE   C O R DE R  '  PLATE  V 

MR.  WAY  and  Mr.  Dennis  write:  "The  portrait  of  'Miss  Rose  Corder,' 
exhibited  at  the  Grosvenor  Gallery  in  1879,  is  one  of  the  many  por- 
traits in  which  Mr.  Whistler  painted  the  figure  dressed  in  black  against  a 
background  so  dark  as  to  appear  black.  Miss  Corder  was  herself  a  painter 
of  some  distinction,  and  it  is  possible  that  she  inspired  him  in  a  different 
manner  from  his  earlier  sitters.  As  a  result  the  picture,  as  a  technical  achieve- 
ment, ranks  among  his  finest  works.  In  the  subtle  gradation  of  the  flesh 
tints  and  complete  absence  of  brushwork  throughout,  the  picture  suggests 
a  fine  Holbein  portrait  as  much  as  a  Velasquez,  though  the  latter  master  is 
irresistibly  recalled  by  the  pose  of  the  figure  and  the  swing  of  the  arm  and 
hat.  The  softness  of  the  edge  of  the  profile  of  the  head  seen  against  the 
great  depth  of  the  background  is  nothing  less  than  marvelous." 

The  brushwork  in  the  hat,  says  Mr.  Samuel  Isham,  shows  the  influence  of 
Manet  and  "might  have  been  picked  out  of  the  heap  of  garments  in  the 
'Dejeuner  sur  Vberbe V "' 

ARRANGEMENT   IN    GRAY   AND  BLACK 

'PORTRAIT   OF   THE   ARTIST'S    MOTHER'  PLATE  VI 

NO  canvas  of  Whistler's  has  been  so  deservedly  written  about  as  this 
masterpiece.  Mr.  Whistler  exhibited  it  at  the  Royal  Academy,  as  an 
'Arrangement  in  Gray  and  Black,'  and  in  his  'Gentle  Art  of  Making  Ene- 
mies' gives  as  his  reason  for  so  doing:  "Now  that  is  what  it  is.  To  me,  it  is 
interesting  as  a  picture  of  my  mother;  but  what  can  or  ought  the  public  to 
care  about  the  identity  of  the  portrait."  It  will,  nevertheless,  remain  for  all 
time  the  most  ideal  representation  of  pure  motherhood  that  the  world  pos- 
sesses. 

Mr.  C.  H.  Caffin  most  interestingly  writes  of  it:  "None  but  a  man  of  peculiar 
sweetness  of  mind  could  have  conceived  that  masterpiece  in  the  Luxembourg, 
'The  Portrait  of  my  Mother.'  Garbed  in  black,  as  you  will  remember,  she 
sits  in  profile,  with  her  feet  upon  a  footstool  and  her  hands  laid  peacefully 
and  elegantly  on  her  lap;  the  lawn  and  lace  of  her  cap  delicately  silhouetted 

[498] 


WHISTLER 


37 


against  the  gray  wall.  She  gazes  with  tranquil  intensity  beyond  the  limit  of 
our  comprehension  along  the  vista  of  memories,  leading  back  through  ma- 
ternity to  a  beautiful  youth."  He  then  goes  on  to  compare  this  picture  with 
'The  White  Girl'  (Symphony  in  White,  Number  One),  and  sums  up  by  say- 
ing: "In  both  these  pictures,  which  come  as  near  as  anything  which  Whistler 
has  done  to  the  generally  accepted  idea  of  a  subject,  it  is  the  significance,  in 
the  one  case  of  motherhood,  in  the  other  of  maidenhood,  that  he  has  dwelt 
upon,  and  in  both  with  the  fullest  reliance  upon  the  aesthetic  suggestion  to  the 
sense,  respectively,  of  black  and  gray,  and  of  white,  elaborated  to  an  extreme 
of  subtlety.  It  would  be  impossible,  I  mean,  that  the  color-schemes,  for  ex- 
ample, could  be  reversed;  each  is  so  intentionally  and  conclusively  the  lan- 
guage fitted  to  the  idea  that  one  might  as  well  try  to  put  the  words  of  Juliet 
into  the  mouth  of  Volumnia." 

ARRANGEMENT   IN    GRAY   AND  BLACK 

'PORTRAIT   OF   THOMAS   CARLYLE'  PLATE  VII 

IN  the  contrast  between  the  portrait  of  his  mother  and  that  of  Carlyle 
Whistler  passes  with  the  subtlest  of  gradations  to  an  almost  opposite 
type,"  writes  Elizabeth  Cary.  "The  differences  are  so  subtle  that  even  Mr. 
George  Moore,  who  saw  in  Whistler's  art  much  besides  the  obvious,  consid- 
ered it  merely  as  'an  attempt  to  repeat  a  success.'  Both  portraits  are  arrange- 
ments in  black  and  gray;  in  each  the  figure  is  seated  in  profile  among  sur- 
roundings indicating  that  the  room  is  the  same  in  both  pictures.  But  the 
arabesque  made  by  the  outline  of  the  old  philosopher  silhouetted  against  the 
wall  is  forcible  where  that  of  the  mother  is  calm  and  flowing.  The  large  hat 
perched  on  the  knee,  the  right  hand  resting  on  a  cane,  the  coat  bulging  vio- 
lently at  the  breast,  and  the  more  erect  carriage  of  the  head  contribute  to  an 
angular  effect  quite  at  variance  with  the  long,  easy  sweep  of  line  in  the  earlier 
portrait.  Even  the  angles  of  the  chair  are  more  sharply  defined,  and  this 
ruggeder  outline  is  in  harmony  with  the  more  furrowed  face,  the  more  anxious 
expression,  the  querulous  brow  and  obstinate  mouth.  There  is  a  suggestion 
of  pose  in  the  arrangement  that  does  not  appear  in  the  portrait  of  the  mother. 
It  is  not  quite  simple  and  frank,  and  fits  thereby  its  subject,  whose  own  ab- 
sorption in  the  'picturesque'  has  been  noted  as  a  mark  of  his  mind's  per- 
versity. Yet  the  effect  in  general  is  of  dignity.  The  head  especially  has  an  ele- 
ment of  grandeur  in  its  craggy  contours.  'What  the  canvas  under  consider- 
ation tells  most  plainly  is  that  Mr.  Whistler  never  forgot  his  own  personality  in 
that  of  the  ancient  philosopher,'  says  Mr.  Moore;  but  that  is  hardly  a  fair 
charge.  In  one  sense  there  could  be  nothing  more  impersonal  than  a  critical 
vision  unconcerned  with  the  great  reputation  before  it,  concerned  only  with 
the  essence  of  the  man.  That  the  man  was  one  who  could  sympathetically 
quote  the  objurgation  '  May  the  devil  fly  away  with  the  fine  arts'  has  inspired 
no  malice  in  the  presentation.  And  the  presentation  is  purely  within  Whistler's 
definition  of  art  as  something  that  should  '  stand  alone  and  appeal  to  the  artistic 
sense  of  eye  or  ear,  without  confounding  this  with  emotions  entirely  foreign 
to  it,  as  devotion,  pity,  love,  patriotism,  and  the  like.'" 

[499] 


38 


MASTERS   IN  ART 


'PORTRAIT   OF   MISS   ALEXANDER  *  PLATE  VIII 

MR.  GEORGE  MOORE  has  most  eloquently  described  this  picture. 
He  writes:  "Truly,  this  picture  seems  to  me  the  most  beautiful  in  the 
world.  I  know  very  well  that  it  has  not  the  profound  beauty  of  the  Infantes 
by  Velasquez  in  the  Louvre;  but  for  pure  magic  of  inspiration  is  it  not  more 
delightful?  Just  as  Shelley's  'Sensitive  Plant'  thrills  the  innermost  sense 
like  no  other  poem  in  the  language,  the  portrait  of  Miss  Alexander  enchants 
with  the  harmony  of  color,  with  the  melody  of  composition. 

"  Strangely  original,  a  rare  and  unique  thing,  is  this  picture,  yet  we  know 
whence  it  came,  and  may  easily  appreciate  the  influences  that  brought  it  into 
being.  Exquisite  and  happy  combination  of  the  art  of  an  entire  nation  and 
the  genius  of  one  man  —  the  soul  of  Japan  incarnate  in  the  body  of  the  im- 
mortal Spaniard.  It  was  Japan  that  counselled  the  strange  grace  of  silhouette, 
and  it  was  that  country,  too,  that  inspired  in  a  dim,  far-off  way  those  subtly 
sweet  and  magical  passages  from  gray  to  green,  from  green  again  to  changing, 
evanescent  gray.  .  .  . 

"The  picture  represents  a  girl  of  ten  or  eleven.  She  is  dressed  according 
to  the  fashion  of  twenty  years  ago  —  a  starched  muslin  frock,  a  small  over- 
skirt  pale  brown,  white  stockings,  square-toed  black  shoes.  She  stands,  her 
left  foot  advanced,  holding  in  her  left  hand  a  gray  felt  hat  adorned  with  a  long 
plume  reaching  nearly  to  the  ground.  The  wall  behind  her  is  gray,  with  a 
black  wainscot.  On  the  left,  far  back  in  the  picture,  on  a  low  stool,  some 
gray-green  drapery  strikes  the  highest  note  of  color  in  the  picture.  On  the 
right,  in  the  foreground,  some  tall  daisies  come  into  the  picture,  and  two 
butterflies  flutter  over  the  girl's  blonde  head.  .  .  . 

"It  was  Velasquez  who  taught  Mr.  Whistler  that  flowing,  limpid  execu- 
tion —  in  the  painting  of  that  blonde  hair  of  the  Infanta  in  the  Salle  Carree 
in  the  Louvre.  There  is  also  something  of  Velasquez  in  the  black  notes  of  the 
shoes.  Those  blacks  —  are  they  not  perfectly  observed  ?  How  light  and  dry 
the  color  is!  How  heavy  and  slimy  it  would  have  become  in  other  hands! 
Notice,  too,  that  in  the  frock  nowhere  is  there  a  single  touch  of  pure  white, 
and  yet  it  is  all  white  —  a  rich,  luminous  white  that  makes  every  other  white 
in  the  gallery  seem  either  chalky  or  dirty.  What  an  enchantment  and  a  de- 
light the  handling  is !  How  flowing,  how  supple,  infinitely  and  beautifully  rare, 
the  music  of  perfect  accomplishment!  In  the  portrait  of  the  mother  the  exe- 
cution seems  slower,  hardly  so  spontaneous.  For  this,  no  doubt,  the  subject 
is  accountable.  But  this  little  girl  is  the  very  finest  flower,  and  the  culminating 
point  of  Mr.  Whistler's  art.  The  eye  travels  over  the  canvas  seeking  a  fault. 
In  vain;  nothing  has  been  included  that  might  have  been  omitted.  There  is 
much  in  Velasquez  that  is  stronger,  but  nothing  in  this  world  ever  seemed  to 
me  so  perfect  as  this  picture." 

NOCTURNE   IN   BLACK   AND    GOLD,    'THE   FIRE-WHEEL'  PLATE  IX 

IT  was  with  the  night  that  Mr.  Whistler  set  his  seal  and  sign-manual 
upon  art,"  writes  George  Moore;  "above  all  others  he  is  surely  the  in- 
terpreter of  the  night.  Until  he  came  the  night  of  the  painter  was  as  ugly 

[500] 


WHIST  LER 


39 


and  insignificant  as  any  pitch  barrel;  it  was  he  who  first  transferred  to  can- 
vas the  blue  transparent  darkness  which  folds  the  world  from  sunset  to  sun- 
rise. The  purple  hollow,  and  all  the  illusive  distances  of  the  gas-lit  river, 
are  Mr.  Whistler's  own.  It  was  not  the  unhabited  night  of  lonely  plain  and 
desolate  tarn  that  he  chose  to  interpret,  but  the  difficult,  populous  city  night 
—  the  night  of  tall  bridges  and  vast  water  rained  through  with  lights  of  red 
and  gray,  the  shores  lined  with  the  lamps  of  the  watching  city.  Mr.  Whistler's 
night  is  the  vast  blue  and  golden  caravansary  where  the  jaded  and  the  hungry 
and  the  heavy-hearted  lay  down  their  burdens,  and  the  contemplative,  freed 
from  the  deceptive  reality  of  the  day,  understand  humbly  and  pathetically  the 
casualness  of  our  habitation,  and  the  limitless  reality  of  a  plan,  the  intention 
of  which  wTe  shall  never  know.  Mr.  Whistler's  nights  are  the  blue  transparent 
darknesses  which  are  half  of  the  world's  life.  Sometimes  he  foregoes  even 
the  aid  of  earthly  light,  and  his  picture  is  but  luminous  blue  shadow,  delicately 
graduated,  as  in  the  nocturne  in  M.  Duret's  collection  —  purple  above  and 
below,  a  shadow  in  the  middle  of  the  picture  —  a  little  less  and  there  would 
be  nothing." 

'The  Fire-Wheel'  was  exhibited  at  the  Grosvenor  Gallery  in  1883.  It  now 
belongs  to  Mr.  Studd,  and  is  a  typical  example  of  one  of  Mr.  Whistler's 
nocturnes.  Mr.  Way  and  Mr.  Dennis  have  described  it  thus:  "It  represents 
a  scene  in  Cremorne  Gardens  at  night,  with  groups  of  people  watching  a  dis- 
play of  fireworks.  The  circle  of  spectators  in  shadow  is  broken  in  the  center  of 
the  picture,  and  through  the  gap  is  seen  the  inner  ring,  with  figures  illumined 
by  the  light  of  the  great  Catherine  wheel  on  the  right.  Lights  twinkle  among 
the  trees,  which  rise  upon  the  left,  while  the  spent  sparks  of  an  expiring  rocket 
fall  slowly  through  the  darkness." 

ARRANGEMENT   IN   FLESH-COLOR    AND  GREEN 

'TWILIGHT,    VALPARAISO'  PLATE  X 

THIS  exquisite  marine,  a  view  of  the  harbor  of  Valparaiso,  and  the  result 
of  Mr.  Whistler's  trip  there  for  his  health  in  1865,  might  rank  as  the 
first  of  his  nocturnes.  This  picture  "represents  the  harbor  as  seen  from  a 
height,  full  of  shipping  and  lit  by  the  afterglow  of  the  sunset."  Nothing  could 
be  more  lovely  than  the  mellow  atmosphere  which  surrounds  all  objects. 
The  water  is  painted  inimitably,  as  Mr.  Way  and  Mr.  Dennis  have  said,  as 
well  as  "in  the  river  scenes,  where  by  a  turn  of  the  brush  in  the  middle  of  a 
long,  sweeping  stroke  he  is  able  to  give  a  perfect  rendering  of  the  luminous, 
oily  patches  so  frequent  on  tidal  waters."  The  delicacy  of  drawing  of  the 
rigging  recalls  his  etchings  of  the  Thames  subjects,  and  the  composition  is 
slightly  Japanese  in  its  arrangement,  for  it  was  at  this  time  that  this  influence 
was  the  strongest  on  his  art. 

A    LIST    OF   THE   PRINCIPAL   PAINTINGS    OF  WHISTLER 
WITH   THEIR   PRESENT  LOCATIONS 

ELIZABETH  LUTHER  CARY,  in  her  recent  work  on  Whistler,  has  given  "a 
tentative  list  of  the  artist's  work."    She  catalogues  528  oils,  water-colors,  and  pas- 
tels, 161  lithographs,  426  etchings.   We  append  a  list  of  the  more  important  oils. 

[501] 


40 


MASTERS    IN  ART 


IN   PUBLIC  COLLECTIONS 

FRANCE.  Paris,  Luxembourg:  Arrangement  in  Gray  and  Black,  '  Portrait  of 
the  Artist's  Mother'  (Plate  vi) — HOLLAND.  Amsterdam,  Museum  :  Arrange- 
ment in  Yellow  and  Gray  —  SCOTLAND.  Glasgow,  Gallery:  Arrangement  in 
Gray  and  Black,  '  Portrait  of  Thomas  Carlyle '  (Plate  vn)  —  UNITED  STATES. 
Boston,  Art  Museums  The  Little  Rose  of  Lyme  Regis;  The  Master  Smith  of  Lyme 
Regis  —  Chicago,  Art  Institute:  Nocturne,  'Southampton  Water' — New  York, 
Metropolitan  Museum:  Nocturne  in  Green  and  Gold  —  Philadelphia,  Wilstach 
Collection:  Portrait  of  Lady  Archibald  Campbell  —  Pittsburgh,  Carnegie  Insti- 
tute: Arrangement  in  Black,  'Portrait  of  Pablo  Sarasate  1  (Plate  iv). 

in  private  collections 

WC.  ALEXANDER:  Portrait  of  Miss  (Cicely  Henrietta)  Alexander  (Plate  vm); 
•  Portrait  of  Miss  Agnes  Mary  Alexander;  Nocturne  in  Blue  and  Silver,  *  Chel- 
sea;' Nocturne,  Blue  and  Green  —  S.  P.  Avery:  Head  of  the  Artist  in  Slouch  Hat  — 
W.  Burrell:  The  Fur  Jacket  —  R.  A.  Canfield:  Arrangement  in  Black  and  Brown, 
'Portrait  of  Rose  Corder'  (Plate  v);  Arrangement  in  Black  and  Gold,  'Portrait  of 
Count  Robert  de  Montesquiou  Fezansac;'  Portrait  of  R.  A.  Canfield;  Symphony  in  Gray 
and  Green,  'The  Ocean;'  Nocturne  in  Blue  and  Silver,  'The  Lagoon,  Venice;'  Blue 
and  Silver,  'Afternoon,  The  Channel' — J.  J.  Cowan  :  Brown  and  Gold,  '  Lilly  in  Our 
Alley;'  Nocturne  in  Blue  and  Gold,  'St.  Mark's;'  Nocturne,  'Chelsea  Rags;'  Brown 
and  Gold,  'The  Cure's  Little  Class' — T.  Duret:  Portrait  of  M.  Theodore  Duret  — 
C.  L.  Freer:  Rose  and  Silver,  <  La  Princesse  du  Pays  de  la  Porcelaine '  (Plate  111)5 
Variations  in  Flesh-Color  and  Green,  'The  Balcony;'  Caprice  in  Purple  and  Gold, 
'The  Golden  Screen;'  Rose  and  Gold,  'The  Little  Lady  Sophie  of  Soho;'  The  Thames 
in  Ice;  Nocturne  in  Blue  and  Silver,  '  Battersea  Reach;'  Nocturne  in  Gray  and  Silver, 
'Chelsea  Embankment;'  Nocturne  in  Blue  and  Silver,  'Bognor;'  Variations  in  Rose  and 
Gray,  'Chelsea;'  Blue  and  Silver,  '  Trouville;'  Nocturne  in  Opal  and  Silver;  and  many 
others  —  E.  Davis  :  At  the  Piano  (Plate  1);  Symphony  in  White,  No.  3;  Old  Batter- 
sea  Bridge  —  Mrs.  J.  L.  Gardner:  Symphony  in  Blue;  Trouville  —  R.  H.  C.  Harri- 
son: Nocturne  in  Blue  and  Gold,  'Old  Battersea  Bridge' — Col.  F.J.  Hecker:  Har- 
mony in  Green  and  Rose,  'The  Music  Room'  — L.  Huth:  Portrait  of  Mrs.  Louis  Huth 
—  Estate  of  Sir  H.  Irving:  Portrait  of  Sir  H.  Irving  as  Philip  11.  of  Spain — J.  G. 
Johnson:  The  Lange  Leizen,  of  the  Six  Marks  —  Mrs.  F.  R.  Leyland:  Portrait  of 
Mrs.  F.  R.  Leyland;  Nocturne  in  Blue  arid  Silver,  No.  1,  'Battersea  Reach'  — 
G.  McCulloch:  Portrait  of  the  Artist  as  a  Young  Man;  Nocturne  in  Blue  and  Gold, 
'Valparaiso' — Lady  Meux:  Harmony  in  Pink  and  Gray,  'Portrait  of  Lady  Meux;' 
Arrangement  in  Black  and  White,  '  Portrait  of  Lady  Meux'  —  Miss  R.  Birnie  Phillip: 
Harmony  in  Red,  'Lamplight,  Portrait  of  Mrs.  J.  McNeill  Whistler;'  Rose  and  Gold, 
'The  Tulip;'  Brown  and  Gold,  <  De  Race;'  Lilly  — A.  A  Pope:  The  Last  of  Old 
Westminster;  The  Blue  Wave,  Biarritz  —  Mrs.  V.  Prinsep:  Portrait  of  Mr.  F.  R.  Ley- 
land —  G.  Robertson:  Variations  in  Flesh-Color  and  Green,  'Twilight,  Valparaiso' 
(Plate  x)  —  A.  H.  Studd:  Symphony  in  White,  No.  2,  'The  Little  White  Girl' 
(Plate  11);  Nocturne  in  Blue  and  Silver,  'Cremorne  Lights;'  Nocturne  in  Black  and 
Gold,  'The  Fire- Wheel'  (Plate  ix) ;  A.  C.  Swinburne:  La  Mere  Gerard — Mrs.  S. 
Untermeyer:  Nocturne  in  Black  and  Gold,  '  The  Falling  Rocket'  — G.  W.  Vander- 
bilt:  Gold  and  Brown,  'Portrait  of  the  Artist;'  Portrait  of  G.  W.  Vanderbilt;  Noc- 
turne, 'Battersea'  — T.  R.  Way:  Cremorne  Gardens  —  J.  H.  Whittemore,  Symphony 
in  White,  No.  1,  'The  White  Girl;'  L' Andalusienne — Mrs.  W.  McN.  Whistler; 
Portrait  of  Dr.  McN.  Whistler. 


[502] 


WHISTLER  41 

5^J)tstler  3Stt)Uograp!)p 

A    LIST   OF    THE   PRINCIPAL    BOOKS    AND    MAGAZINE  ARTICLES 
DEALING   WITH   JAMES   A.    MCNEILL  WHISTLER 

AN  Amateur,  pseud.  Catalogue  of  etchings  by  James  McNeill  Whistler,  supplemen- 
l  tary  to  that  compiled  by  F.  Wedmore.  New  York,  1902  —  Bell,  N.  R.  E.  James 
McNeill  Whistler.  London,  1904  —  Benedite,  L.  Introduction  biographique  et  critique 
(in  TCEuvre  de  James  McNeill  Whistler.  Quarante  reproductions  de  chefs-d'oeuvre  du 
maitre,  reunis,  l'ecole  des  Beaux- Arts).  Paris,  1905  — Bowdoin,  W.  G.  James  McNeill 
Whistler  j  the  Man  and  His  Work.  New  York,  190 1  — Bryan,  M.  Dictionary  of  Painters 
and  Engravers.  New  York,  1905  — Caffin,  C.  H.  American  Masters  of  Painting.  New 
York,  1902  —  Caffin,  C.  H.  How  to  Study  Pictures.  New  York,  1905  —  Caffin,  C.  H. 
The  Story  of  American  Painting.  New  York,  1907  —  Catalogue  of  an  exhibition  of  the 
etchings  and  lithographs  of  James  McNeill  Whistler  exhibited  by  the  Caxton  Club,  Chicago. 
Chicago,  1900  —  Catalogue  of  the  Loan  Collection  at  the  Copley  Society,  Boston.  Etch- 
ings, dry-points  and  lithographs.  Boston,  1904  —  Catalogue  of  the  same  exhibition.  Oils, 
paintings,  water-colors,  pastels.  Boston,  1 904  —  Catalogue  of  etchings  and  dry-points  by 
James  McNeill  Whistler  exhibited  at  the  Grolier  Club.  New  York,  1904  —  Catalogue 
of  lithographs  by  James  McNeil  Whistler  exhibited  at  the  Grolier  Club.  New  York, 
1907  —  Cox,  K.  Old  Masters  and  New  —  Duret,  T.  Critique  d'avant  garde.  Paris, 
1885  —  Duret,  T.  Les  lettres  et  les  arts.  Paris,  1888 — Duret,  T.  Histoire  de  J. 
McNeill  Whistler  et  de  son  oeuvre.  Paris,  1904 —  Eddy,  A.  J.  Recollections  and  Im- 
pressions of  James  A.  McNeill  Whistler.  Philadelphia,  1903  —  Encyclopedia  Brit- 
annica.  Edinburgh,  1902  —  Forsyth,  W.  G.,  and  Harrison,  J.  LeR.  Guide  to  the 
Study  of  James  Abbott  McNeill  Whistler  (N.  Y.  State  Library  Bulletin.  Bibliography 
No.  1).  Albany,  1895  —  Gallatin,  A.  E.  Whistler's  Art  Dicta  and  Other  Essays.  Bos- 
ton, 1904  —  Gallatin,  A.  E.  Whistler.  Notes  and  Footnotes  and  Other  Memoranda. 
New  York,  1907 — Gosse,  E.  W.  Cecil  Hawson,  A  Memoir  (with  illustrations  by 
H.  Herkomer,  J.  A.  McN.  Whistler,  and  C.  Hawson).  London,  1883 — Gutekunst,  R. 
Catalogue  of  Some  Masterpieces  by  Diirer,  Meryon,  S.  Haden,  and  Whistler.  London, 
1906 — Hamerton,  P.  G.  Etching  and  Etchers.  Boston,  1876  —  Hartmann,  S.  His- 
tory of  American  Art.  Boston,  1902  —  Isham,  S.  History  of  American  Painting.  New 
York,  1905 — Kingston,  B.,  and  others.  Homes  of  the  Passing  Show  (with  illustra- 
tions by  J.  McNeill  Whistler  and  others).  London,  1900  —  Macfall,  H.  Whistler: 
Butterfly,  Wasp,  Wit,  Master  of  Art,  Enigma.  Edinburgh,  1905  —  McSpadden,  J.  W. 
Famous  Painters  of  America.  New  York,  1907  —  Mauclair,  C.  De  Watteau  a 
Whistler.  Paris,  1905  —  Menpes,  M.  Whistler  as  I  Knew  Him.  New  York,  1904 
—  Moore,  G.  Modern  Painting.  London,  1893  —  Muther,  R.  History  of  Modern 
Painting.  London,  1895  —  Raleigh,  W.  A.  In  Memoriam,  James  McNeill  Whistler 
(Speech  delivered  at  the  opening  of  the  Whistler  Memorial  Exhibition  in  London).  Lon- 
don, 1905 — Reinach,  S.  Apollo,  an  Illustrated  Manual  of  Art  throughout  the  Ages. 
London,  1907  —  Singer,  H.  W.  James  McNeill  Whistler  (Langham  Series  of  Art 
Monographs).  London,  1905 — Temple,  A.  G.  The  Art  of  Painting  in  the  Queen's 
Reign.  London,  1897  —  Thompson,  Sir  H.  Catalogue  of  blue  and  white  Nankin  por- 
celain, forming  his  collection  (with  illustrations  by  J.  Whistler  and  others).  London, 
1878  — Way,  T.  R.,  and  Dennis,  G.  R.  The  Art  of  James  McNeill  Whistler:  An 
Appreciation.  London,  1905  —  Way,  T.  R.  Catalogue  of  Mr.  Whistler's  lithographs. 
London,  1896  —  Wedmore,  F.  Four  Masters  of  Etchings  (with  [4]  original  etchings 
by  Haden,  Jacquemart,  Whistler,  and  Legros).  London,  1883  —  Wedmore,  F.  Whist- 
ler's Etchings:  a  Study  and  a  Catalogue  —  Wedmore,  F.  Whistler  and  Others.  New 
York,  1906  — Whistler,  J.  McN.  Whistler  vs.  Ruskin:  Art  and  Art  Critics.  London, 
1878  —  Whistler,  J.  McN.  Ten  O'Clock  Lecture.  London,  1888  —  Whistler, 
J.  McN.  The  Gentle  Art  of  Making  Enemies.  London,  1890  —  Whistler,  J.  McN. 
Eden  vs.  Whistler:  the  Baronet  and  the  Butterfly.  A  Valentine  with  a  Verdict.  Paris,  1899. 

[503] 


42 


MASTERS    IN  ART 


MAGAZINE  ARTICLES 

AS  Whistler  was  a  contemporaneous  painter,  and  one  who  created  so  much  controversy  of 
a\.  every  kind,  the  complete  bibliography  of  magazine  articles  is  far  too  long  to  include 
here.  We,  therefore,  give  only  a  few  of  the  more  notable  articles.  For  the  full  list, 
'Poole's  Index'  and  the  'Index  to  Periodical  Literature'  can  be  consulted  in  any  library. 

ACADEMY,  1883:  F.  Wedmore;  Etchings  of  James  A.  McN.  Whistler  —  Archi- 
tectural Record,  1904:  K.  Cox;  The  Art  of  Whistler — Art  Journal,  1887: 
W.  Dowdeswell;  J.  A.  McN.  W.  1893:  D.  S.  MacColl;  Paintings  by  J.  A.  McN.  W. 
—  Athenaeum,  1904:  M.  Menpes;  Whistler  as  I  Knew  Him.  1904:  A.J.  Eddy;  Rec- 
ollections and  Impressions  of  Whistler  —  Atlantic  Monthly,  1903:  R.  Cortissoz; 
Whistler  —  Brush  and  Pencil,  August,  1903:  A  special  number  on  Whistler  —  Fort- 
nightly Review,  1888:  A.  C.  Swinburne;  Mr.  Whistler's  Lecture  on  Art.  1892: 
W.  Sickert;  Whistler  To-day  —  Gazette  des  Beaux-Arts,  1881:  T.  Duret;  James 
Whistler — Harper's  Weekly,  1898:  C.  H.  Caffin;  J.  A.  McN.  W. —  International 
Quarterly,  1904:  H.  Pennington;  J.  A.  McN.  W. —  Kunst  und  Kunsthandwerk, 
1904:  P.  G.  Konody;  Whistler's  Pfauenzimmer.  1907:  A.  Dreyfus;  J.  A.  McN.  W. — 
Ladies'  Home  Journal,  1903:  L.  B.  Griffin;  Untold  Stories  of  an  Eccentric  Man.  1904: 
J.  C.  Van  Dyke;  What  Is  All  This  Talk  About  Whistler  ?  — Lamp,  1904:  C.  E.  Fairman; 
Whistler  in  Washington.  1903:  P.  G.  Smalley;  Sketch  of  Whistler.  1904:  P.  G. 
Smalley;  More  About  Whistler — Lippincott's,  1903:  F.  E.  Coates;  Poem  Dedicated 
to  J.  A.  McN.  W.  1904:  A.  Andrews;  Memories  of  Whistler  —  Lotus,  1903:  Special 
holiday  number,  in  memoriam,  J.  A.  McN.  W. —  Magazine  of  Art,  1892:  C.  W. 
Dempsey;  J.  A.  McN.  W.  1903:  M.  H.  Spielmann;  Man  and  the  Artist.  1903:  V. 
Prinsep;  Personal  Recollections  of  J.  A.  McN.  W. —  McClure,  1896:  Anonymous; 
Whistler,  Painter  and  Comedian  —  Munsey,  1902:  G.  W.  Smalley;  American  Artists 
Abroad.  1906:  C.  Brinton;  Whistler  from  Within  —  Nation,  1892:  E.  R.  Pennell; 
Triumph  of  Whistler.  1902:  Anonymous;  Life,  by  W.  G.  Bowdoin.  1903:  A.J. 
Eddy;  Recollections  and  Impressions  of  Whistler.  1903:  Anonymous;  Whistlers 
in  Edinburgh.  1903:  Anonymous;  Whistler  Exhibitions  in  London.  1903:  Anony- 
mous; Art  Work  of  Whistler.  1904:  F.  W.  Colburn;  Memorial  Exhibition  in 
Boston.  1904:  Anonymous;  Whistlers  in  Edinburgh.  1904:  K.  Cox;  Memorial 
Exhibition  in  Boston.  1905:  Anonymous;  Whistler  Memorial  Exhibition  at  the 
New  Gallery.  1905:  E.  R.  Pennell;  Whistler  Exhibition  at  the  Ecole  des  Beaux- 
Arts.  1905:  E.  R.  Pennell;  Whistler  Exhibition  at  the  International  Society  of 
Sculptors,  Painters,  and  Gravers.  1906:  E.  R.  Pennell;  Whistler  Pictures  at  Wind- 
sor—  National  Magazine,  1904:  W.  H.  Downs;  Whistler  and  His  Work — 1904: 
M.  Baldwin;  Memorial  Exhibition  in  Boston  —  New  Review,  1897:  Portrait  of 
W.  Nicholson — -St.  Nicholas,  1905:  C.  H.  Caffin;  Comparison  of  Whistler  and  Sar- 
gent—  Nineteenth  Century,  1904:  F.  Wedmore;  The  Place  of  Whistler  —  North 
American  Review,  1903:  J.  Pennell;  J.  A.  McN.  W. —  Outlook,  1904:  H.  W. 
Mabie;  Memorial  Exhibition  at  Boston — Quarterly,  1905:  R.  E.  Fry;  Watts  and 
Whistler  —  Review  of  Reviews,  1903:  E.  Knaufft;  Art  Work  of  J.  A.  McN.  W. — 
Saturday  Review,  1903:  D.  S.  MacColl;  Whistler  and  Sir  E.  J.  Poynter.  1903: 
D.  S.  MacColl;  Whistler,  Boughton,  and  'The  Saturday  Review.'  1903:  D.  S.  MacColl; 
Save  Some  of  Whistler's  Paintings  for  England.  1905:  D.  S.  MacColl;  Whistler  Exhi- 
bition at  the  International  Society  of  Sculptors,  Painters,  and  Gravers.  1906:  D.  S. 
MacColl;  Etchings  at  Windsor  Castle  —  Scribner,  1879:  W.  C.  Brownell;  Painting 
and  Etching  of  J.  A.  McN.  W.  1897:  E.  R.  Pennell;  Master  of  the  Lithograph  — 
Scrip,  1906:  E.  L.  Cary;  Whistler's  Etchings,  Lithographs,  Characteristics,  French  Influ- 
ences in  Whistler's  Art  —  Studio,  1903:  A.  L.  Baldry;  Art  and  Influence  of  J.  A. 
McN.  W.  1903:  O.  Sickert;  Oil-Painting  of  J.  A.  McN.  W.  1903:  M.  Menpes;  Rem- 
iniscences of  J.  A.  McN.  W.  1903:  T.  R.  Way;  Whistler  as  a  Lithographer.  1903:  W. 
Scott;  Whistler  in  Venice.  1903:  C.  H.  Caffin;  Work  of  Whistler  a  Living  Force  — 
Zeitschrift  F  'r  Bildende  Kunst,  1904:  T.  Duret;  Aus  Whistlers  jungen  Jahren. 

[504] 


MASTERS   IN  ART 


F.  W.  Devoe  &  Co.'s  Artists'  Tube  Colors 

ARE  THE  STANDARD  QUALITY 

Used  by  all  prominent  artists  and  sold  by  all  first-class  dealers 
Also  BRUSHES  and  other  ARTISTS'  MATERIALS 


F  .  W .  DEVOE 

NEW  YORK 


&   C.   T.    RAYNOLDS'  CO. 

CHICAGO  KANSAS  CITY 


Under 

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of 

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the  pictures  in  a  room  are  never 
to  be  seen  to  advantage.  If  you 
do  not  care  to  place  a  permanent 
fixture  over  each  painting,  why 
not  secure  one  of  our  portable 
reflectors  ?  You  can  move  it  any- 
where, direct  the  light  as  you 
please.  The  arrangement  of  re- 
flecting surfaces  concentrates  all 
the  power  of  the  electric  lamp 
on  any  one  picture.  This  is  the 
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The  greatest  selection  and  largest  variety  will  be  found  in  «ur 
catalogue,  containing  400  illustrations  of  the  most  famous  pictures 
— both  ancient  and  modern. 

A  copy  of  this  reference-book,  indispensable  to  all  lovers  of  art,  with 
comments  by  competent  critics,  biographical  notes,  suggestions  for 
decorating  homes,  schools,  etc.,  will  be  sent  on  receipt  of  50c,  which 
amount  will  be  reimbursed  on  receipt  of  initial  order. 

Art  Schools,  Libraries,  and  other  educational  institutions, 
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FROM  small  electrotypes  printed  on  this 
quality  of  paper,  it  is  of  course  impossible 
to  give  any  idea  of  the  beauty  of  these  prints. 
The  illustrations  are  here  given,  merely  to  show 
the  ten  subjects  in  the  series,  and  enable  readers 
who  may  not  be  familiar  with  them  to  make  a 
selection. 

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RAPHAEL 


il  x  17  inches 


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42  CHAUNCY  ST.,  BOSTON 


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will  be  published  on  the  same  plan  and  up  to  the  same  high  stand- 
ard in  every  respect  which  has  characterized  the  preceding  years 
of  the  publication.  The  artists  to  whose  work  it  has  been  definitely 
decided  to  devote  numbers  are  as  follows:  — 

SIR  FREDERICK  LEIGHTON 

who  was  for  nearly  twenty  years  the  President  of  the  Royal 
Academy.  He  is  noted  for  his  sumptuous  color  and  the 
graceful,  statuesque  pose  of  his  figures. 

EDOUARD  MANET 

the  leader  of  the  Impressionist  School  in  France  for  many 
years.  He  used  this  manner  of  painting  in  the  portrayal  of 
figure  studies  and  nudes. 

NICHOLAS  MAES 

the  pupil  of  Rembrandt,  and  one  of  the  best  painters  of 
genre.  His  simple,  family  scenes  of  peasant  life  have  almost 
a  modern  look. 

CARLO  6RIVELLI 

Almost  an  anachronism  in  fifteenth-century  Venice.  His 
pictures  glow  like  old  mosaics  with  every  accessory  of  deco- 
ration. 

DOMENICO  THEOT060PULI 

that  strange  and  little  understood  painter  called  El  Greco  (The 
Greek),  who  migrated  to  Spain  and  painted  those  almost  sav- 
age pictures  with  sacred  themes,  and  weird,  forceful  porrtraits. 

PARIS  BORDONE 

A  follower  of  Titian,  "who,"  John  Addington  Symonds  re- 
marks, "mingled  on  his  canvas  cream  and  mulberry  juice  and 
sunbeams." 


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OF 


iWaateyg  in  &x\ 

HOLBEIN  March,  1902 

TINTORETTO   .  .   .  April,  1902 

These  numbers  will  be  reprinted  about 
February  15.  1908 

(October.  1907) 


THE  LONDON 
SCHOOL  OF  ART 

Stratford  R«ao,  Kensington,  W.,  London,  Ens. 


Drawing,  Painting,  Composition,  Illustration 
Etching 

TV aching  Staff :  JOHN  U.  Swan,  R.  A.,  FRANK  BranCVWYN, 
A.R.A.,  Joseph  Oppbnheimek,  John  Longstaf? 
Membership  is  limited  in  all  classes,  and  ktudents  will  be  ad- 
mitted in  the  order  of  their  application  whenever  a  vacancy 
occurs.  For  further  particulars,  apply  to 

C.  P.  TOWNSLEY,  Director 


ERIC  PAPE  SCHOOL  OF  ART 

Ninth  Year.  September  30,  Vflg,  '/>  June  1, 1908 
Head  Instructor  and  Direct**-  ERIC  PAPE 
No  examinations  for  admission  to  an/  ot  *ue  ciaafeu.  Students  begin 
by  drawing  from  the  nude  and  costume  models,  aa  is  done  in  the  Paris 
aeademios,  upon  which  the  school  is  modelled.  Fine,  large  studios. 

Drawing,  Painting,  Composition,  Illustration, 
Decorative  Design,  and  Pyrogravure 

Drawing  and  Painting  from  ;<life."  Separate  classes  for  men  and 
women.  Portraiture,  Still-lite,  Flower-paintingjWater-color,  Pastel, 
Composition,  Decorative  Design  and  Painting,  Practical  Design  for 
Textiles,  Illustration,  Pen,  Wash,  Gouache,  Poster,  and  Book-cover 
designing. 

Morning,  Afternoon,  and  Evening  Classes.  Scholarships 
and  Medals. 
For  illustrated  circulars  address  the  Secretary. 

Cor.  Massachusetts  Avenue  and  Boylston  Street 

BOSTON,  MASS. 


art  flca&em?  of  Cincinnati 

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COMPLETE  TRAINING  IN  ART 

Drawing,  Painting,  Modeling,  Composition, 
Anatomy,  Wood-carving,  Decorative  Design 
applied  to  Porcelain,  Enamels,  etc. 

Frank  Duveneck  C.  J.  Barnhcrn   Henrietta  Wilson 
V.  Nowottny       Wm.  H.  Fry      Kate  R.  Miller 
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F*rti$th  rtmrt  ttft.  33^iq07y  u  May  JJ,  iqo8.  $2J 

J.  H.  GEST,  Director,  Cincinnati,  Ohio 


THE  NEW  YORK 
SCHOOL  OF  ART 

(Chase  School) 
Winter  Term  :  Sept.  9,  1907,  to  June  1,  1908 
INSTRUCTORS 


Susan  F.  Bissell 
Douglas  John  Connah 
Cliffopd  Carlton 
Frank  Alvah  Parsons 


George  Clarkb 
Robert  Henri 
Kenneth  Hayes  Miller 
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Drawing,  Painting,  Composition,  Illustration} 
Design,  Normal  Art  Training,  and  The  Crafts 
diplomas  and  certificates 


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ART  Tours  to  Europe 

*^  **"  to  see  ind  to  study  the  ART  of 
Italy,  Spain,  France,  and  Germany  under  the  best 
Directors.  Small  parties  for  people  of  taste  and  culture. 
Also,  SUMMER  PAINTING  CLASSES  in  Spain 
and  Italy  for  Students.  Apply, 

New  York  (Chase)  School 
of  Art 

2239  BROADWAY,  N.  Y. 


Art  Students'  League 
of  new  york 


Season  :  September  30,  1907,  to  May  23,  190S 

Jnatractor* 


Kenyon  Cox 
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Rhoda  Holmes  Nicholls 
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Frank  Vincent  DuMond 
Thomas  Fogarty 


Wallace  Morgan 
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Alice  Eeckington 
Charles  Henry  White 
James  Earle  Fraser 
William  M.  Chase 


Classes 

Life,  Illustration,  Antique,  Anatomy,  Modeling,  Min- 
iature, Etching,  Commercial  Design,"  Composition, 
Portrait 

Circulars  on  Application  to 


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215  West  Fifty-seventh  Street 
New  York,  N.  Y. 


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Choice  Engravings  &  Etchings 


PAINTINGS 
CLEANED  AND  RESTORED 


REGILD'NG 
AND  ARTISTIC  FRAMING 


NEW  YORK:  355  Fifth  Avenue 
LONDON  :  15  Old  Bond  St.         PARIS :  23  Place  Vendome 


LETTERS  AND 
LETTERING 
$2.00 

MONEY  BACK 
If  the  Book  Does  Not  Suit 


£33 


|N  illustrated  Treatise  by  Frank  Chouteau 
Brown,  containing  210  examples.  A  complete 
and  varied  Collection  of  Alphabets  of  Stan- 
dard and  Modern  Forms  so  arranged  as  to  be 
most  practically  and  conveniently  useful  to 
all  who  have  to  draw  letter-forms.  Send  for  folder 
fully  describing  the  book,  or,  better  still,  send  $2.00, 
read  the  book  through,  get  an  you  can  out  of  it  in  a 
week,  then  send  it  back  if  it  is  not  worth  more  than 
$2.  ro  to  have  for  reference.  We  will  refund  your  money. 

.'.1.1  1    -n-jcassasBsac 

BATES  AND  GUILD  CO.,  Publishers 

BOSTON,  MASS. 


Pens  for  Ml  Purposes 

Perhaps  you're  an  artist,  or 
an  engrosser,  a  book-keeper,  a 
student,  or  just  an  ordinary  letter 
writer — there's  a 

SPENCERIAN 

STEEL  PEN 

for  you.  Points  are  delicately  ad* 
justed  and  smoothly  ground.  A 
sample  card  of  12  differenc  pat- 
terns sent  for  6  cents  postage. 
SPENCERIAN  PEN  CO., 
349  Broadway,  New  York. 


3Sp  gmertcan  grttets 

CHOICE  EXAMPLES  ALWAYS  ON 
VIEW.  FREQUENT  SPECIAL  EX- 
HIBITIONS.   -  ;, 

Also  a  Fine  Selection  of 
Volkmar  Pottery 

WILLIAM  MACBETH 
450  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City 


In  answering  advertisements,  please  mention  Masters  in  Art 


Printed  at  the  Everett  Prttt 


